THE All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday assured Nigerians that contrary to the break-up claim by the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, the country remains secure with the party at the helm of power post 2023.
Speaking in Benin on Monday, Obaseki said the APC-led administration plunged the country into debt which he put at N60 trillion, adding that “God forbid APC comes into power, this country will break up. This country will fail. It has already failed because nobody has done the kind of damage the APC government has done to this country. I don’t know how we will recover. For us, my heart is beating by the time Atiku gets in, we will not be able to sleep day and night.”
Tinubu, in a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, Tinubu-Shettima presidential campaign council, described the comments attributed to Obaseki as reckless and unbecoming of a governor with a constitutional mandate to preserve the unity of the country.
While Tinubu’s response was silent on the nation’s debt put by Governor Obaseki at N60 trillion, the APC presidential candidate justified the allegation of printing of currency which the Edo State governor said has worsened the nation’s inflationary rate. The APC presidential candidate said nations “embark on such moves when they are in difficult fiscal situation, as the whole world has been confronted with since 2019 with COVID-19 pandemic that put the global economy on tailspin.”
He described the administration of Obaseki as a colossal failure which has continued to survive on bailout from the same Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that he chose to indict.
“The policy has helped to save his state and 35 other states from economic cataclysm because of their terrible fiscal positions, which made many of them unable to pay salaries and pensions for months.
“This same Obaseki, along with other governors under the banner of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, has been putting pressure on CBN and Minister of Finance for more moratorium on their due obligations to CBN.
“We advise Obaseki to stop his scaremongering and concentrate on how to save his faltering, failing, disconnected and unpopular government in Edo State. He should stop abusing his office and stooping so low into the dirty gutter of bitter politicking and crisis-baiting.
“Nigeria remains secure in the hands of our party, APC, and the future is even brighter with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima.”
