The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) John Odigie-Oyegun in a recent interview with Premium Times admits that the ruling party has failed Nigerians in their campaign promises that brought them to power.
He says the APC has not performed as Nigerians expected as the country is facing serious challenges in electricity supply, petrol, job oppurtunities and other sectors.
Speaking on the unprecedented hardship the nation has faced and is still facing since APC took over power in May 2015, Oyegun calls the situation “unfortunate”.
In his words, “It is very unfortunate. But Mr. President is determined. It is unfortunate that the problem is much worse than we expected; much worse in the sense that we have to develop process that will truly produce jobs; that will truly produce progress. We really want to avoid blaming the past because people no longer want that; they just want these conditions to change. But we still must face the reality.
“For instance, I don’t think there is one Nigerian that is not aware of heavy expenditure on electricity that did not result in improved supply. Sixteen years of mismanagement added to the collapse of oil caused the problem. But I assure you the president is very determined to bring the change.
But you can’t blame Nigerians for the outcry. The wife of a man who was bringing N100 home before but now brings N40 will fight. Every single member of the family will feel it.
“That’s the situation with Nigerians. But Nigerians must also be aware that that those people who hold the country to stranglehold are fighting back. Corruption is fighting back very massively. Look at the issue of fuel scarcity. Even as a party, we had to call the minister of state for petroleum resources. We asked “how do we explain all this?”
When asked if APC is aware that Nigerians have not felt the change they promised he said: “We are aware. But you know change is a process. Change is progressive. You see, by the hardship people are going through, if you start explaining what “change” is, it will be like you don’t have feelings.
“Change is not just about fuel. Change is about how we think; our approach to issues. It is a massive undertaking. When the process fully completes, we will have a totally new Nigeria.
“One doesn’t want to use all these words our people have abused – “I am not a magician” and all that – but look at the fact of total mismanagement of resources, added to collapse of oil price.
“The reality is that change is a process. It’s not just about fuel queue has disappeared. It is our determination to combat forces which are ready to see people cry to make money. That’s why we have to go through the challenges but just for short moment. How we explain this to Nigerians is what I don’t know.”
