Delay in constituting cabinet: PDP reminds the Presidency of Buhari's statement in September 2015, that ministers were mere “noise makers”.

Kola Ologbondiyan

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Monday reacted to the Presidency’s claim that former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for President Muhammadu Buhari’s delay in forming his cabinet.

Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu had made the allegation while featuring on Channels Television.

However, PDP said it was unfortunate that the Presidency will always resort to peddling falsehood as a cover for its failures.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the former ruling party said “It is a settled matter that President Buhari could not form a cabinet for over five months after his inauguration, primarily due to sheer incompetence, lack of preparedness and the fact that he was overwhelmed by the complexity of the office of the President of Nigeria.

“In accusing the Jonathan administration of frustrating early formation of President Buhari’s cabinet, by allegedly delaying the submission of his handover notes to the Transition Committee, the Buhari Presidency forgot that the head of the Transition Committee, Ahmed Joda, had since May, 2015 publicly dispelled such as false and diversionary, noting that the committee got all the cooperation it needed from Jonathan’s administration.

“Nigerians can also recall how President Buhari refused to hasten the formation of his cabinet following his widely condemned view, in September 2015, that minister were mere “noise makers”.

“President Buhari had expressed his personal unwillingness to appoint ministers when, in an interview with France 24 TV, in France, he said that the absence of ministers was not affecting governance in Nigeria.

“According to President Buhari “the ministers are there, I think, to make a lot of noise”. “As for the cabinet, I said we will have one by the end of the month, and time flies. The end of the month is coming too quickly for my liking”.

“It is therefore ludicrous and the height of hypocrisy for the Buhari Presidency to now turn around after three years to blame President Jonathan for President Buhari’s confessed failure.”

PDP stated that the Presidency should “note that peddling falsehood and blaming the previous administration for its failures will not help it in 2019.

“President Buhari has not only shown, but also personally confessed that he lacks capacity to handle an economy as complex as Nigeria’s.”

“The only thing left for President Buhari to do is to start preparing to accept defeat in 2019, as Nigerians are now rallying behind our candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who has the solutions and blueprint that guarantee a better future for our nation,” the statement added.