PDP still has questions to answer on ‘squandered wealth’ — Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) owes Nigerians explanations on how it expended the resources that accrued to the country from oil sales between 1999 and 2014.

Mr Buhari also described the 16 years of rule of the PDP as an era of “unprecedented, irresponsible expenditure”.

He said this during an audience with the leadership of organised labour comprising Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) led by the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, who were on a congratulatory visit.

Mr Buhari recently won a second term in office.

According to the president, the PDP has not been able to successfully explain to Nigerians what they did with the funds during the period they led the nation “as no tangible infrastructure was built”.

Mr Buhari, recalling the negotiations that led to the approval of the N30,000 minimum wage, said he had to ask the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, to remind the workers what his administration met on ground and what it has been able to achieve with minimal resources.

“During your negotiation with the minister of labour and when he briefed us in council on N30,000 minimum wage, I gave an analogy of a mad woman, who went to fetch firewood but then she realised it was too heavy for her to carry, instead of reducing it, she added more,” he said.

According to the president, “we are struggling to survive as a nation. You (workers) knew what this country was earning between 2009 and 2015, you knew the state of infrastructure when we came in. God gave them (PDP) 16 years of unprecedented earnings. Multiply 2.1 million (barrels) by $100 by 16 years. I don’t think the PDP has been able to successfully explain to Nigerians what they did with that money.”

Mr Buhari said the opposition party spent $16 billion on power and Nigerians are asking: “where is the power?”

”I appealed to you through our mutual friend, the minister of labour, to tell you where we found the country, where we are, and what we have been able to do with the resources available to us,” he said .

– Premium Times