Senator-Elect, Shehu Sani Blasts Jonathan And Okonjo-Iweala

The Senator-elect for Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, on Saturday tackled President Goodluck Jonathan on the sale of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, and the last-minutes sale of the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited, NITEL.

He also carpeted the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her economic policy. The senator-elect also described the current impasse in the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, as a disgrace to Nigerian workers.

Mr. Sani, while receiving the Kaduna State executive of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, who visited him in his office in Kaduna, said the privatization exercise under President Goodluck Jonathan is a monumental theft of Nigeria’s collective resources in the interest of a few.

“The sale of PHCN has not translated into consistent electric power in our homes, in our offices , in our markets and in our work place,” he said, adding that the issue of privatization has also seriously affected many workers who were employed in those institutions for decades. 

Mr. Sani also stated that, “the last minute-sale of NITEL to a private firm at a time when the government is supposed to be preparing notes for handover is also suspicious or irrelevant at this time”. 

The Senator-elected also accused Mrs Okonjo-Iweala of damaging Nigeria’s economy by policies he said failed to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians. 

“They claim progressive economic statistics on paper while our people continue to suffer in abject poverty, want and penury. 

“All the economic indicators that have been churned out by the Jonathan administration is in direct conflict with the reality of the situation on ground as far as Nigeria is concerned. 

“Most of our industries have closed down, the value of our naira has crashed and many people are out of job and the claim of thousands of jobs created by the government is suspect and simply on paper.This is also an issue we have to look at in the incoming administration,” he added. 

He described the government of President Jonathan as “literally a political restaurant whereby people are invited to come and feed.That is why President Jonathan is saying that those who decamped from PDP to APC will come back with empty stomach.

“The idea of governance under Jonathan is about people using the opportunity of being in office to service themselves and their immediate families.