By Dirisu Yakubu
ABUJA- National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Eddy Olafeso has charged Nigerian workers to look beyond the “facade” in the recent approval of N30, 000 minimum wage by President Muhammadu Buhari and vote in a competent handler of the economy in the 2019 general elections.
Olafeso who stated this exclusively in a telephone conversation with our correspondent yesterday, chided President Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for “trying to hoodwink” Nigerians with a new wage with just a handful of months left to the elections. While noting that the increment of N12, 000 translates to little or nothing at the end of the month, the PDP chieftain added that the focus of the party’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar is how to make federating states economically viable.
According to him, Nigerians face a choice between a President who “for almost four years now has failed to deliver on promises made and a candidate who is a proven manager of men and resources, an outstanding politician and successful businessman.”
He said, “Nigerians are far more intelligent today than they were a few years ago. Today, they are not over the moon because of the paltry increment in the minimum wage. Let’s face reality! How much is N12, 000 and what can it do considering the cost of living in a country where inflation is the order of the day? Elections are here and they suddenly realize the need to cover up their failures of nearly four years but we want to assure Nigerians that the PDP has much more in the offing for them.
“His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku will diversify the economy and work towards making the states economically viable. This way, the states will stand on their own, create jobs for their teeming populace, thereby bringing to the barest minimum, incidences of crimes and criminality.”
Olafeso also tasked Nigerians to remember that wages, no matter how high, would not bring about a revival of the economy, stating that what the nation needs to join global team players is productivity, which in his words, the APC government “lacks the know-how to bring to fruition.”
He continued: “Nigeria is today economically weak and unstable because the gains the PDP recorded in 16 years were not built upon. We handed over a robust economy that ranked first in the African continent. The beneficiaries who ordinarily ought to have done more led us to recession which we are still grappling with. So the voter will not be swayed by N12, 000 but by the offerings the various parties and their candidates put on the table. Atiku presided over the nation’s economic council and brought about improvement in the lives of Nigerians. Atiku is about jobs, good life for the citizens and our beloved nation.
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“So, it is a campaign of issues for us and not about character assassination as the other party has shown. We want to get this country working again and the only way to do this is to look away from temporary gains to the long term future of a stable economy which will witness a thriving manufacturing sector, secured environment, educational revival and more.”