Serious leaders form their cabinets within one week, Obi taunts Buhari

Peter Obi, vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the general election, says leaders who are serious do not waste time to form their cabinets.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos during the weekend, Obi called on President Muhammadu Buhari to unveil his team as soon as possible.

Buhari was sworn in on May 29 while the main inauguration activities took place on June 12, the new Democracy Day.

However, not a single appointment has been made by the president since then.

Obi challenged Buhari to emulate President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, who announced his cabinet members three days after taking the oath of office as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India who unveiled his team with the week of his inauguration.

“These are serious leaders who are ready to move their countries forward. Imagine forming their cabinets within one week of being sworn in,” he said.

“Can you compare them with what is happening here in our country? I have always said it that for our country to move forward, it must change its current compass.”

Obi also said Nigeria has so many bad role models masquerading as leaders adding that the country is in a “total mess” because of leadership failure.

He tackled the Buhari administration of plunging Nigeria into a debt of over 11 trillion “despite having nothing to show” for its time in office.

“What we have today in Nigeria is the cumulative effect of leadership failures. A leader must know his/her destination. Painfully, we have plenty bad role models masquerading as leaders,” he said.

“Nigeria is in total mess because of too much borrowing caused by leadership failures. Our situation will get worse if we do not solve these problems urgently. There is serious crisis in Nigeria because politics is now business and transactions. In fact, we have reduced our lives to transactions in Nigeria.

“Tell me, what is working in Nigeria today? A country where states owe billions and the federal government has borrowed over N11 trillion since coming into office and there is nothing to show for all the borrowed funds. Are you not worried that over 21 million of our youths are not employed?

“Nigeria is gradually collapsing and unemployment is part of the disease killing Nigeria. All hands must be on deck to help save our nation from these leadership failures.”

He also cautioned the federal government to be careful with the way it is going about its fight against corruption.

“You can only fight corruption genuinely by doing the right things as a leader. Again, you cannot be criminalising all your citizens and still expect foreign investors to come in and invest in your economy,” he said.