Stop Distracting The Nation With Your Calls, CNPP Tells Buhari

By Oladapo Okeowo

President Buhari has been called out on his spate of telephone calls but no single national address to the people who voted him into power.

According to the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), the President should stop with the act which they described as distracting and “unnecessary”.

The group urged the government to bear down and find lasting solutions to governance issues which currently beset the nation.

In a statement by Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP Secretary-General, the calls and the attendant media attention it is generating are unnecessary seeing as there is no power vacuum. He opined that the transfer of power to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo means the country still has a recognised head of state.

Hence, the acting President should not be “distracted at this trying times”.

The statement reads, “We see the continued media hype of President Buhari’s phone calls and possible photoshopped pictures of individual visits to his London hospital as a distraction.

“Why is Mr. President always calling from his sick bed to individuals at a time he should be resting to get well quick and return home?

“If he can be talking to individuals, what is difficult about talking to the nation in a live broadcast, where some citizens can call in and get his response?.

“The Presidency should stop deceiving Nigerians and know that governance must not be based on lies and propaganda.

“At a time the average Nigerian does not know where the next meal will come from, we see the presidency toiling with people’s emotions rather than face governance issues to reduce the current suffering in the country.

“Enough of phone calls from President Buhari. It is time for the ruling party to deliver on its campaign promises and make life better for the citizens of Nigeria.”

The most recent of these calls was to General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) to commiserate with him on the death of his sister.

This is one in a long list of calls to everyone- Asiwaju Tinubu, General Obasanjo, Femi Adesina- but no direct contact of the generality of Nigerians since he, the President, left the country on January 23.