The National leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari, over his absence at the meeting of countries affected by insurgency at the 70th United Nation’s General Assembly. The opposition party described it as an insult to the country.
Neither President Buhari nor any of his ddelegation for the UNGA was present at the meeting on insurgency. The presidency has defended itself by claiming that the meeting was unofficial.
However, the PDP insisted that Nigeria’s absence at such a meeting where countries affected by Boko Haram insurgency sought international assistance for millions displaced by terrorist attacks revealed the government’s insincerity and ineptitude.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh told journalists in Abuja that the presidency lied because the said meeting on humanitarian crisis was contained on the official brochure.
“Further reports indicate that due to the importance of that meeting, it was broadcast on United Nations’ official online television and radio channels, while officials of world bodies have continued to register their disappointment in our country due to the incompetence of the APC-led government. Instead of admitting failure and apologizing to Nigerians, the Presidency sought to hoodwink the public by claiming that the meeting was not one of the official events for which the President and his delegation are in New York, only for the official brochure of the meeting tagged, “High Level Event on the Lake Chad Basin,” to show that “high level representation from the government of Nigeria” was scheduled to make contributions at the meeting.
“It is disheartening to note that the same meeting the President Buhari-led delegation shunned actually yielded a fall out of $6.8 million announced by the United States as funding for regional aid efforts,” Metuh stated.
Commenting on the failure of Buhari to have a cabinet after four months in office, Metuh said: “From his hesitancy and comments, it is deducible that President Buhari never intended to appoint ministers but rather prefers to run a monocracy and evidently does not value or respect those he would nominate as ministers.
“Otherwise, how can anyone repackage the mindset of the President when he, in an interview with France 24 Television in France, stated categorically that his preference is to rule without a cabinet and denigrated ministers as ‘noise makers,’ and of no importance or value in the running of an administration?”