A former National Vice Chairman, North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman has described the calibre of people nominated as ministers by President Bola Tinubu as a disappointment.
Lukman in a statement issued Monday titled, ‘Disturbing Signals: Open Letter to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’, wondered why Tinubu took eight weeks just to churn out a ministerial list that crashed the hope of both party members and Nigerians.
He said: “The third disturbing signal is the quality of your appointees. Sincerely, Your Excellency, throughout the 2023 electoral campaigns, one of the strong campaign points was that you know how to find talents.
“When it took you more than eight weeks to nominate your Ministers, the belief was that you are taking your time to identify indisputably proficient people.
“With due respect to all those you nominated, many party members and extension Nigerians were disappointed.
“It is clear to any discerning mind that political consideration eclipsed any other factor, definitely no argument about talent can be sustained. As it is, both as party members and as Nigerians, our expectation from your government has crashed.”
The party chieftain also lamented that living conditions of Nigerians are getting worse, while poverty incidences are terribly high beyond any rational expectations under Tinubu.
He noted that while the removal of subsidy was commendable, but that Nigerians were still waiting to know what the agenda of government is with respect to managing the downstream oil sector beyond saving the amount of money that used to be expended for subsidy payments was beyond comprehension
Lukman added: “The second issue related to management of policy initiatives is the exchange rate of the Naira. Some of us expect that decisions around exchange rate will be integral part of broader economic policy of government.
“Now, it would appear that isolated decision has been taken to float the Naira without any clear economic policy. The consequence is that the Naira is on a downward swing. Combined with rising cost of transport as a result of withdrawal of subsidy the inflationary pressure on the economy is very high. As a result, living conditions are getting worse. At this rate, poverty incidence will be terribly high, beyond any rational expectations.”