The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari against frivolous donations of the nation’s resources.
Atiku made this known in a Sunday statement by his media office in reaction to news that Buhari pledged $500,000 cash and other material donations to Guinea Bissau.
The former vice president queried the rationale behind the donations when the same government was planning to sell national assets built by previous administrations in order to fund the 2019 budget.
He urged the Buhari administration to be more prudent with the nation’s resources instead of frittering it away on unnecessary donations.
Atiku said, “Recently , we had cause to counsel the Buhari administration to be more prudent with national resources after the government declared its intention to sell national assets built by previous administrations to fund their business as usual 2019 budget.
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“Apparently , rather than give heed to our pro bono patriotic advise , the Buhari administration is persisting in the financial profligacy that has seen them destroy a once thriving economy .
“In the latest instance , the Buhari government has announced that it is making a $500 , 000 donation to Guinea Bissau, along with other material donations .
“Our response is to ask why a nation that has been officially named as the world headquarters for extreme poverty , will donate her resources to others instead of using them to solve pressing domestic problems ?
“This is the same government that is so cash strapped that it has so far borrowed ₦13 trillion in three years putting our economy in even greater peril.
“How prudent is it to go about taking loans from whomsoever cares to lend you money and then turn around to give out those same monies even when your own people are suffering the worst forms of poverty they have ever endured?
“We call on the Buhari administration to cut their coat according to their cloth . He should stop donating like Father Christmas . He should attend to then need of Nigerians .”