PDP deplores Buhari’s ‘poor showing’ in Japan

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lamented what it called “the disgraceful outing and poor attention given to President Muhammadu Buhari by world leaders and investors at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD),” adding: “It has further confirmed his rejection by the international community.”

In a statement yesterday by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party described as a “national embarrassment and shame the fact that President Buhari could not seal any meaningful economic agreement at the conference but only came home with an empty basket and pocket full of promissory notes.”

The main opposition political grouping claimed that the gathering had shown that “no world leader or international investor wants to do any real business with Nigeria under President Buhari, mainly because of the legitimacy burden of his presidency arising from the rigging of the February 23 presidential election as well as overt impunity, corruption, treasury looting and recklessness that pervade his administration.”

PDP went on: “It is lamentable that while President Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), are reducing our nation by celebrating a mere pledge of $300,000 (N108 million) from the Japanese Prime Minister and a promissory note for 50 million euros from an EU Commissioner, his Ghanaian counterpart, Nana Akufo-Ado, had sealed a deal with automobile giant, Toyota, to immediately establish a Toyota and Suzuki manufacturing plant in Ghana with a determined timeline of August 2020 for production.

“The multinational had also signed a deal to establish a similar plant in neighboring Ivory Coast with a Memorandum of Understanding to that effect already signed last Thursday.”

The spokesman added: “It is saddening that because of President Buhari, our nation, which, under the PDP had excelled to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a hub for foreign direct investments, is now descending into a pariah and beggarly nation with no hope in sight.

“This development plainly shows that the time is gone when world leaders and investors embraced manipulated elections and governments that do not have the mandate of their citizens.”