Former head of state retired General Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged President Jonathan to focus on tackling corruption in government instead of removing fuel subsidies.
Buhari, who run for president in April on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change, spoke in Abuja at the inauguration of the CPC Renewal Committee, headed by former FCT minister Nasir el-Rufai, aimed at repositioning the party.
"I have already said it. I said in Adamawa last week that our party does not believe in it (subsidy removal). Let them wipe out corruption and we will live happily ever after," he said while commenting on the controversial subsidy removal policy.
CPC has been bedevilled by internal recriminations since the April elections, when it failed to win most of the positions it expected to clinch easily.
Explaining the formation of the el-Rufai committee, Buhari said, "One critical consideration has compelled us to initiate the renewal of the party 30 weeks after the general election. While the elections of 1999, 2003 and 2007 have inspired hopes that were later dashed, the general elections in 2011 have demonstrated one reality that we, as Nigerians and as a people must not accept.
"The elections showed that millions of people could stay away from voting, yet the state and its umpire agencies could generate pre-determined electoral outcomes' Nigerians must not accept this evolving reality because it is evil and everyone must remember that evil has a life span and will one day collapse and judge itself."
He said it was discouraging that 10 years after the return of democratic rule in Nigeria, political parties have remained a platform for selling or trading public office nomination tickets, rather than being the fulcrum for which effective public service can be provided for our people.
"In the past, the real issue that keep coming up from the lips of our followers and sympathizers is not whether they trust us. It is whether they can afford to put their hopes on us, given the uphill task that they think have to be accomplished in order to bring about the change that they strive for. This renewal effort will address this issue very well and will be a big opportunity to prompt conviction among Nigerian voters nationally, across age, gender, ethnicity and religion. We must all do everything within our powers to rebrand and reposition our party into a highly effective and efficient political organisation," he said.
El-Rufai, for his part, said less than N1 billion was spent on fuel subsidy in 2007, adding that it was regrettable that issue now was the amount of money being stolen in the name of subsidy.
He said, "It (subsidy removal) was monumental fraud. The government is trying to tax Nigerians for their inefficiency and corruption. When we were in government, you don't even hear of billions of naira being paid as subsidy. There was subsidy, yes. We adjusted the prices several times to reduce the gap. But the last year we were in office, the amount of money spent on subsidy in the budget was less than N1 billion. Today, you are talking of N1.3 trillion. There is something wrong. What has happened? Has the corruption of Nigerians multiplied 10 times or 12 times since then? Has the exchange rate changed so much or the price of oil?"
On the renewal committee, el- Rufai said, "Our committee knows how difficult it is to bring about renewal and change. People and institutions everywhere tend to resist change once they discover their comfort zones however difficult. Some resist change even in times of progress, talk less of adversity. Obviously, our party and its teeming members must admit that the past few months have been ones of adversity, of raised expectations, dashed hopes and blatant theft of our national hopes and aspirations.
"Yet, history has shown that it is often out of adversity that the foundations of greatness are found, formed and developed. Political and economic events in Nigeria indicate clearly that our great party must reform or face even more inordinate challenges, if not terminal decline. Nigerians look up to our party as that of social justice, public service and integrity in governance. Only our party has the leadership and membership committed to unlocking Nigeria's potentials and providing equal opportunity for all. Therefore, we must rise up; reorganise to fix the dysfunctional political economy of Nigeria."
NEWS SOURCE:Daily Trust newspaper
