The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, says the opposition People’s Democratic Party PDP is only aggrieved about the Buhari Administration’s Twitter suspension because they can no longer share ‘fake news’.
Shehu made the comment as part of reactions to the PDP governors’ take on the operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the deteriorating economic and security situation in the country.
In a communique on Wednesday, he said: “And, of course, the PDP grieve over the Federal Government’s action over Twitter – for it represents the curtailment of their ability to use the platform to spread fake news and invented stories to the detriment of community and good-neighbourliness between the peoples of Nigeria,”
Addressing the NNPC saga, the Presidency spokesman argued that in bemoaning the decision by the NNPC not to make contributions to the Federation Account, the governors appear to believe NNPC can spend the same money twice: once on the petroleum subsidy – which they all support – and then on their States via the Federation Account.
NNPC is a trustee for the nation – and this means it must manage its finances with prudence and for the long-term to safeguard the financial support it bestows on our country. What the governors are asking of NNPC is to “break the bank” for their own profligate political ends”.
“Similar profligacy and contradiction are in full view with their call to the Central Bank to appreciate the value of the Naira. This would damage exports – including oil revenues on which NNPC depends – as well as damage small businesses and employment. But an appreciated currency would benefit those spending on luxuries from abroad – this, no doubt, being the leading desire of a typical PDP governor.
“When the governors claim a lack of federal institutions’ money pouring into their States’ coffers is an affront to democracy, constitutionalism, and federalism, they fail to mention the ugliest trend against the integrity of Nigeria comes by own hands with their refusal to support the Federal Government’s earnest desire to reinstate the local government as the third tier and finding a lasting solution to farmer-herder conflicts costing the nation lives and livestock.
“This initiative brings rights and support for generations of all ages to bring solutions to challenges that different communities of our country have faced but the PDP governors reject it – denying all Nigerians their constitutional right to live and work in any state of the Federation – preferring to appeal to ethnic division and hatred rather than support the first practical solution offered since independence,” the president’s spokesman stated.
