The presidency has described opposition political leaders as lacking in positive political antecedents nor moral recommendation to find fault with the social and economic policies of the Jonathan administration.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe stated this in a press conference addressed in Lagos.

Responding to the speech made by Action Congress of Nigeria leader, Senator Bola Tinubu at the recent convention of the party, Dr. Okupe said opposition leaders are fond of using “every platform to denigrate this nation and its government, confuse innocent members of the public and deceptively present themselves as possessing what it takes to move Nigeria forward.”

While noting that the antecedents of the ACN leader as governor of Lagos state did not portray him as a friend of workers and masses, neither does it show him as having better managerial ability which he hopes to give the Nigerian people, Okupe said, “the Bola Tinubu who spoke about poor budget implementation at the federal level never attained sixty percent budget implementation while he presided over the affairs of Lagos between 1999 and 2003.Contrast this with the remarkable budget implementation record of the present administration in the last two years. The records are there for all to see.

Senator Tinubu who spoke about meager wages for public servants in Nigeria was known to have ignored calls of Lagos civil servants for a 7,500 naira monthly wage and when he eventually buckled to the pressure of Labour leaders, he wickedly sacked the major arrow head of the struggle in person of Comrade Ayodele Akele who was never re-instated.

The present National chairman of the ACN, Chief Bisi Akande as Governor of Osun state during the same period denied workers of a 5,500 naira minimum wage and eventually laid off over 9,000 workers during his for year reign. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,who was then NLC President and now Governor of Edo state led workers on protest march in Osun state during the period but Chief Akande remained adamant. Where then is the credential of these people to talk about job creation, promotion of workers’ interest and democratic etiquette?”

The presidential spokesman picked holes in the merger of opposition political parties noting that none of the parties has what it takes to move Nigeria forward.

“These sets of politicians who want to desperately supplant the Jonathan’s administration are promoting an incongruous alliance of political weaklings and dysfunctional Lilliputians out primarily to foster their ego and psyche being repeatedly frustrated political power mongers; forgetting that one million giant ants can never muster the required strength to lift a concrete pole not to talk of a nationally entrenched pillar and structurally established institution like the PDP.

“It is worthy of note that the major plank of this motley assembly, the ACN, is notorious for outsourcing its presidential standard bearer from the ranks of the same PDP they gleefully vilify.

“In 2003, their choice was Vice President Atiku Abubakar who now knows them better. In 2011, it was a protégé of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who fitted the slot, although he was later betrayed and sacrificed on the altar of self-interest.”

Okupe said none of the states being currently governed by the opposition ACN has given a good account of themselves as being insinuated by the opposition.

“As I speak with you, Ekiti and Osun states which are being governed by these opposition political parties are embroiled in one form of industrial crisis or the other as a result of the insensitive, cruel and anti-workers policies of their present governors.

“Local government workers and teachers went on strike in Ekiti and lost a number of their members to sack and other forms of victimization. In Osun, tertiary institutions are at present under lock and key. School fees have tripled in institutions of higher learning owned by Ekiti, Lagos, Osun and Oyo states. Yet, Senator Tinubu spoke of the present government as “heartless and mean that put the interest of small elite above the interest of the common working man and woman who are the backbone of this nation”.

While asserting that President Goodluck Jonathan will not be distracted from pursuing his transformation agenda, Okupe assured Nigerians that the various programmes on power, infrastructure, agriculture and job creation will be pursued even more vigorously in the coming months.

http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/10118-amnesty-for-boko-haram-what-fg-should-do-tinubu-tinubu-buhari-are-political-liabilities-presidency