Salary cut not enough, PDP tells Buhari

The Peoples Democratic Party has told President Muhamamdu Buhari and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,that cutting their salaries is not the only thing Nigerians are expecting from them. Rather, the party said the President and his party, the All Progressives Congress, must strive to fulfil their campaign promises.

Moreover, the party described salaries as mere drop in the ocean of personal allowances and privileges that come to the President and the Vice-President.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh

The main opposition party, which had been ruling Nigerian since 1999 until it was defeated during the last general elections, also said that the rejection of official cars by the President would not be enough to convince Nigerians.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said this in a statement he signed in Abuja on Tuesday.

 

It will be recalled that the President and the vice-president last Friday announced 50 per cent cut in their salaries.

The President also, on Thursday, rejected new bulletproof cars worth over N400m.

While Metuh said that the PDP appreciated the gestures of the President, he insisted that the APC was over dramatising the achievements of the Federal Government.

 

Metuh, therefore, warned Buhari against celebrating what he called “cosmetic governance.”

Metuh said his party believed that there was the need to bring to the President’s notice certain indices he said if not properly corrected, were capable of derailing the smooth running of his (Buhari’s) administration.

He said, “It is incontrovertible that instead of focusing on the promises you made to Nigerians and on policy thrusts that will move our economy forward, the ruling party has been made to be very high on propaganda, deceitful engagement and cosmetic governance.

 

“We believe you should extricate yourself from these agents of propaganda who continue to believe that Nigerians would be swayed by these cosmetic interventions instead of the real business of government.

“As the leader of the most populous black nation in the world, we believe you should not allow your Presidency to be pushed into the gimmicks of playing to the gallery and attempting to use the dramatisation of promissory notes and pledges by foreign interests, false and premature claims of victory against insurgency.

“The dramatisation of salary cut and rejection of official cars, were done to gain cheap popularity and create an impression that the government is on course when in actual fact the new administration has not been able to locate its bearing since its inauguration in May.

“While we appreciate the symbolic gesture by Mr. President in ‘cutting’ his N14m annual basic salary by 50 per cent, it should be noted that Nigerians would not be swayed by the N7m annual donation and rejection of official cars, and forget their expectations for the implementation of his long list of campaign promises for which he was elected into office.”

Credit: The PUNCH