Flashback: How Oshiomhole Blamed Jonathan For Economic Crisis When Buhari Was In Power

The lawmaker representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole, has shown his stand for blaming Nigeria’s woes on the previous administration or leader.

Naija News recalls that Oshiomhole, months after former President, Muhammadu Buhari took over from ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan, accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government of been responsible for the economic crisis in the country.

Oshiomhole who spoke in an interview on Channels Television, in July 2015, said, “The crisis we have at the moment is not a flash; it’s going to be here for some time. I feel what has happened is that at the peak of the oil boom, prices were high and people made projections and budgets were drawn up on the basis of those numbers and along the line there was a sharp drop.

“So, if the federal government had been stopped from borrowing, the federal government would have defaulted much earlier than the states and the number of months that the federal government would have been worse than the worst state in the federation. The federal government allowed itself to borrow recklessly, quite reckless in the sense that no serious manager goes month after month to borrow for the payment of salaries.”

The former governor of Edo State claimed that the excesses of Jonathan’s administration have been coming into the fore, stating that Buhari had made practical efforts to correct his predecessor’s anomalies.

Oshiomhole not only attacked Jonathan, but he also called for the heads of some of his appointees.

The lawmaker at some point alleged that the immediate past minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expended $1 billion on the re-election bid of Jonathan.

Oshiomhole, in his claim, described the former minister as a “pathological liar”, re-emphasising the point of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that revelations of the rot of Jonathan’s government would be released in the coming weeks.

He said, “You will soon begin to hear when all the numbers are published.”

Oshiomhole has again latched on to the current growing hardship in the country and passed the blame on Buhari, who left the government about eight months ago.

The lawmaker, in his reaction to the economic crisis in the country, said President Tinubu should not be held responsible for the right or wrong decisions taken by the previous administration.

Speaking during an interview on Channels TV, Oshiomhole specifically said he always places national interests above partisan interests.

The senator said he criticized Buhari’s government for some of its policies.

He said, “My first loyalty is to Nigeria. At some point, before the last president left office, I lamented loudly what I saw as reckless policies that were designed to dehumanize the population that was already in pain.

“I felt that it is not what the then president promised. I dissociated myself from those policies and I’m happy that I was not the only one.

“There were governors who approached the court to denounce some of those policies. It is the long term consequences of those policies that we are still grappling with now.”