A Civil society organisation, OurMumuDonDo Movement, has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari over the non-fulfilment of the campaign promises he made to Nigerians prior to being elected in 2015.
The group made their position known at a press conference tagged 'State of The Nation', to commemorate Nigeria’s 58th independence anniversary, on Monday, in Abuja.
Convener of the group, Charles Oputa popularly known as 'Charly Boy' said the president made 81 different promises to Nigerians, which he pledged to fulfill if elected into office but has failed to fulfill the promises.
He said: "During the presidential campaign that preceded the presidential elections in 2015, General Muhammadu Buhari conveniently made 81 different promises to Nigerians, which he pledged to fulfill if elected into office. General Muhammadu Buhari has not only failed to fulfill his promises to the good people of Nigeria, he has also proven to us that his words are lighter than an empty barrel and that he bears absolutely no respect for the good people of this country.
"Firstly, among the numerous failures of General Buhari's administration thus far, the obstinate refusal to disclose to the good people of Nigeria, the exact ailment beleaguering the president, and also the total amount of money that has so far been spent on this unknown ailment which has compelled him to sojourn in the United Kingdom for a total of 173 days since he resumed office, remains unfathomable and disappointing. More disappointing is the fact that transparency and accountability was one of the core promises of General Buhari during his campaign for the office of the president. But as has become characteristic of his administration, General Buhari does not concern himself with such things as accountability or transparency.
"Secondly, before he was elected, General Buhari promised to increase electricity generation, transmission, and distribution to at least 20,000MW in four years, but Nigeria is currently struggling to maintain between 5,000MW to 7,000MW of electricity. He also promised to create three million jobs annually, but we have only heard of con jobs out of the twilight zone."
He explained that the despite the promise to record unprecedented economic development, Nigeria is now the "extreme poverty capital of the world" and also ranked 157 out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development.
The group bemoaned the prices of staple foods, noting that the common man has continued to suffer untold hardship ever since.
"Under his administration, Nigeria's unemployment rate has ramped up to 18.80 per cent, while youth unemployment rate has ramped up to 33.10 per cent. These and other awful facts reflect the current reality of our economy — widely apart from what General Buhari promised before he was elected, and far from an indication of a country on a path to economic buoyancy," he added.
The human rights activist pointed out that several intimidating records of human rights abuses are rife under the present administration.
His words: "In contradiction to General Buhari's promise to drastically combat insecurity in Nigeria, the frightening reverse is the endless killings of Nigerians across the country by Fulani militia, killer herdsmen, the Boko Haram sect, and political thugs coupled with frenetic kidnappings across the country. Under General Buhari's watch, at least 19,890 Nigerians have been viciously killed since June 2015. Another report shows that about 1,061 Nigerians were killed brutally by Fulani militia in the first quarter of 2018 as a result of 106 well-planned consistent attacks on several communities in North-Central Nigeria.
"[This is] apart from the obvious fact that General Buhari has severely battered the dignity of Nigeria's judicial system, by not only invading the homes of judges in the middle of the night, but also saying recently that he believes rule of law must be subject to a vague 'national interest'.
"We make bold to say that: in health, Buhari has failed; in education, Buhari has failed; in fighting corruption, Buhari has failed; in solving the insecurity crises of Nigeria, Buhari has failed; in economy, Buhari has failed; in preserving our unity, Buhari has failed; in not agreeing to restructure Nigeria, Buhari has failed."