Buhari’s Economic Retreat is a waste of N250m public funds – Fayose

Gov Fayose (left), President Buhari

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State is not relenting on his attack on President Muhammadu Buhari.

In his latest barrage, he described the just-concluded National Economic Council (NEC) retreat as mere jamboree and waste of over N250 million public funds.

According to him, many of his fellow governors were not happy with the economic retreat. He added that some of the resource persons at the event had ruined the economy of their states when they were governors and therefore had nothing to offer.

“What solution can the likes of former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who as governor plunged the state into unprecedented debt by borrowing money to build governor’s lodge, pavilion and uncompleted civic centre proffer to the economy of Nigeria?” he said Friday in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

“The retreat has further exposed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Muhammadu Buhari lacked economic blueprint as the president is still talking the way he talked while seeking for votes from
Nigerians.

“It is strange that close to one year after President Buhari was sworn in, he still cannot tell Nigerians one major economic step his government has taken to salvage the economy. He has not taken any key step and there is no economic team. That is strange!

“I was at the retreat and I can tell Nigerians categorically that it was just a jamboree. It was a waste of over N250 million public funds because most of the resource persons were the same people who ran their states aground.

“Instead of wasting over N250 million on such a jamboree, it would have been better if the fund is given to those downtrodden Nigerians, who are trading with as little as N5,000.

“For instance, at N10,000 each, N250 million will go round 25,000 pepper sellers whose capital is not more than N5,000 and that would go a long way in boosting their trade.

“Even most governors, including those of the APC were not happy with the economic retreat. Almost everything they proposed was opposed by the governors.

“Also, the president in presenting himself as APC president alone and speaking as if he was still canvassing votes and chose the retreat to tell the 22 states governed by the APC to build 250,000 housing units per annum. The question is which state in the present Nigeria can build 10,000 housing units per year?

“To me, the Federal Government appears not ready to face reality. The economic retreat sounds like another talk shop retreat and a clear indication that APC and President Buhari did not have an economic blueprint even when it took two months after winning election for the president to assume office.”

Fayose has been throwing barbs at Buhari since last year when the latter was campaigning to become president. The onslaught of attacks, which sometimes border on personal insults, has continued unabated even after Buhari was sworn In and from all indications, it will not stop soon.