Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has called President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime the worst in Nigerian history, saying the outgoing president “must be told that he failed woefully and Nigerians are feeling the impact of that failure because we are all suffering.”
He claimed that the president has plunged the country into unimaginable poverty and insecurity, in contrast to what existed under his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.
Ortom said at the commissioning of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards, BSCVGs, headquarters in Makurdi that Buhari has taken Nigeria from top to bottom, making life miserable for all Nigerians.
He said, “I served under the then President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and we all saw how Nigeria flourished under that administration. We all knew what the prices of goods and services were at the time.
“We also know what our exchange rate was at the time and what it is today. I want Nigerians to do a simple comparison and you will realise how bad it has been under this government and how Nigeria has been taken several years backwards by the Buhari government.
“The fact is that never in the history of Nigeria did we experience this kind of bad governance in the country.
“Corruption is so endemic in this government, yet people who steal chicken are thrown into prison, but people in government who are busy stealing the wealth of the people are walking free.
“The President recently apologised to Nigerians; we accept the apology but he must be told that he failed woefully and Nigerians are feeling the impact of that failure because we are all suffering.”
Ortom also lamented the refusal of Buhari to curb the excesses of the armed Fulani herdsmen and designate them a terrorist organisation for being responsible for the killings in the country.
“The President told us he is retiring to tend to his cattle, is it because he is returning to be a herder that he failed to deal decisively with herdsmen? That was unfair to Nigerians,” he added.
The governor assured that he would continue to speak out against injustice in the country.