Former President Goodluck Jonathan has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of running a failed government anchored on lies and propaganda.
The ex-president made the declaration on Thursday while playing host to one of the chairmanship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Prof. Tunde Adeniran.
Jonathan noted that those who were writing off the PDP are doing so at their own peril as he stated that the rate at which people are rushing to be associated with the party that just lost election just two years ago, is an indication that the ruling party is not doing well.
He stated that the 16 years of PDP in government was a blessing to Nigerians as the people can now see that the APC government has nothing to offer Nigerians.
Jonathan declared that he was proud to say that the PDP did well from May 29 1999 till May 29 2015 when it handed over power to the APC, saying since then till date the APC administration has been grappling with challenges in government.
He stated since then the APC administration has nothing to show as achievement in its stay in office, but rather, it has been ruling through lies and deployment of hi-tech propaganda to cover up its misrules.
Jonathan, who cited instances to back up his claims, challenged the current administration to a public debate over his submission.
“PDP administration for 16 years did well and will continue to do well. But this administration has done nothing; the administration is full of lies and propaganda.
“In the power sector we did well to revive it. A state governor criticised our government, saying that any serious government should be able to fix the power within six months. Today, APC has been in power for how many years? Fortunately, the then governor is in the APC Government as a Minister of Power. What have they done?,” he quipped.
Jonathan however said that all hope was not lost as the PDP would go all out and put its house in order for it to return to power come 2019 since Nigerians have been able to see things for themselves on the differences between the APC and the PDP.
“With the rate at which people are coming around to associate with a Party that lost elections, it shows that the people still believe in the PDP, with the numbers and caliber of the people coming out to vie for the seat of the National Chairman and offices of our Party, it shows that our Party still has another chance,” he said.
The former President, however, warned that for the Party to get it right and regained its lost glory, it would need a competent, reliable and courageous National Chairman who would then lead the Party to victory come 2019.
“The contest for the office of the National Chairman is very interesting. This is healthy competition; many of the aspirants have been coming here. This will allow the delegates to choose the best among then at the Convention.
“However, for the Party to make a head way, we need a National Chairman that will oversee selection of credible and reliable candidates for various elective offices at the various level of governments, from the Presidency to the Councillorship.
“We need a National Chairman who will be courageous enough to call the President to order if we wins the Presidency and the President is going astray. He must not be someone who will change his views after the Party takes position on issues.
“We need a National Chairman who will rule the Party democratically and carry others along. In fact, the National Chairman is the leader of the Party, it is not the way round.”
He however advised the Party members and the aspirants not to allow the Convention to cause another crisis in the Party, saying that the contest should be seen as family affairs.
In his remarks, Professor Adeniran, stated that initially he was not interested in the race but the need to rebuild and reposition the Party ahead of the 2019 General elections prompted him to join the race.
