The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday said the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, was wrong for saying that former President Muhammadu Buhari is the cause of the current economic challenges and hardships Nigerians are facing.
News About Nigeria had reported that on Tuesday, the governor accused the past administration mortgaged the future of the economy during the swearing-in of his special advisers and heads of agencies at the Government House in Jos.
According to Mutfwang, the current challenges bedevilling the nation are a result of the poor decisions of the immediate past administration.
He also accused the Buhari-led government of printing money and distributing it among themselves.
However, reacting to the claims today, the National Director of Publicity for the APC, Bala Ibrahim, said the governor’s statement was based on assumptions.
While decrying the statement, Ibrahim noted that it was obvious that the governor was merely playing to the gallery and displaying some level of ignorance.
He further noted that Buhari’s administration never mismanaged the nation’s funds, as claimed by the governor.
He said, “I will say the governor is probably displaying his ignorance of macro and micro-economies. When you talk about mortgaging the country or selling oil upfront for the future, I think he needs to go and learn how oil is marketed at the Rotterdam market. There are countries that produce oil, sell for upward of 10 years and payments made upfront. It is normal in the oil business. It didn’t start with Buhari even such a thing happened during his administration.
“For his (Mutfwang) information, Buhari is very versed and experienced when it comes to oil marketing and economy having been minister of petroleum during the military regime. He has also been one head of state that built two refineries during his time. So he is very conversant with the economics of oil and anyone who knows Buhari will tell you he won’t do anything that will shortchange the country or put the future of Nigeria in jeopardy. It is not something new but a normal statement expected from the mouth of the opposition. But in playing opposition, I always like people to play constructive and not destructive criticism.”
Speaking on Governor Mutfwang’s claim that the Buhari-led government printed money and distributed it among themselves, Ibrahim revealed that an investigation is currently ongoing on the claim and he does not want to start pre-empting the outcome.
