President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his constituency in Daura, Katsina State.
Buhari, speaking during the exercise in his Daura residence, lamented that the nation’s elites had resolved not to acknowledge the efforts of his administration in repositioning the country despite the plunge in revenues but chose instead to harass him.
The President, who was accompanied by APC Caretaker Committee members, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, governors, among others, declared that the era of endorsing people from Abuja was over.
He said that his objective was to ensure that the party was returned to the people at the grassroots by starting from bottom up from polling unit to ward to the local government to the state and then to the federal.
The President pleaded with the elites to be fair in their assessment of his performance by taking cognizance of the state of the country’s economy when he took over power in 2015.
He said “The problem is that I will like, especially the elites, to please be reflective. When we came, where we were, the resources available from then and the condition of the infrastructure. I was contrived to go over it several times to tell Nigerians that between 1999 and 2014, let them check with the NNPC, let them check with the Governor of Central Bank. The daily production was 2.4 million barrels per days and the average cost was a hundred American dollars per barrel.
“So for these years, daily Nigeria would earn having 2.4m times 100 dollars everyday. But look at the condition of infrastructure, you know this better than I do. I know I went to every local government of the country in my three consecutive attempts to become the President. You know the road more than I do. You know the condition of the rail, the railway was dead. Now look at it everywhere we go, what did they do with all these monies?
“When we took over in this administration, production went down to about half a million barrels per day, the price collapsed. We had to do what is called a bailout, wherever we got the money from. Upon all the money from 1999 to 2014, we have to give you money from the Centre to pay salaries. No! Nigerian elites are not interested in rating the competence but they are interested in harassing us with all efforts we are making.”