Incompetence, cause of present administration’s governance deficiencies, says Prince Adebayo

• Says Obasanjo had presence of mind to govern than Tinubu

By Folorunso Alagbede, Abuja

Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo has attributed the hardship currently being faced by Nigerians to President Bola Tinubu’s failure to squarely face governance.

Adebayo, who doubles as the leader of the SDP, lamented that part of the President’s failures is his refusal to speak to Nigerians or even consult before taking a major policy decision that affects Nigerians.

This, he said, has led to the President appointing Ministers who are not adding any value to his administration.

According to him, “The only thing many of the Ministers know about is the route to their offices; to engage an issue on their mandate is difficult.

“Apart from going to the weekly executive council meeting and somebody is asked to address the media, try to track decisions they make in the federal executive council, and you will see that the majority of it are mere approvals, not policy.

“They are like a tender’s board. They have turned themselves into a tender’s board, where contracts are taken to them,” he said.

He lamented that the government has failed to secure the lives and property of Nigerians, making lives difficult for Nigerians.

Insisting that there is no governance in Nigeria at present, Adebayo said: “When lives and property are safe, governance is taking place, even if the President doesn’t talk.

“If the civil servants are delivering on services and they are meeting their targets; if people have better electricity and better healthcare; if the rule of law is working through the judiciary; if the industry is working, and industry this time, is in two branches – professionals like lawyers, nurses, and productive industry like manufacturing, agriculture, and extractive industry; if those ones are working, whether people like your face or not, the evidence will be clear that governance is taking place. But, these are not there at present.”

On the recent comment by former President Olusegun Obasajo about the current government, he noted that even though he (Obasanjo) did not get most of the things right during his time, he acknowledged that he was not afraid to bring in talented Nigerians into his government.

“The difference is that Obasanjo had defficiency, but he knew how to govern even when he had bad policy. He had the presence of mind to govern, compared to those who are there now who don’t have the presence of mind to govern. Obasanjo has the time to consult.

“He has the ability to explain; he was not too afraid of bringing talents to his government.

“That doesn’t mean you will agree with him on all his policies. After all, if he was successful, many of the problems the subsequent administrations met on ground wouldn’t have been met.

“But, that doesn’t disqualify him from pointing out what is wrong. More so, he has been in that office a number of times. Even if you are doing what he has done before, that is not an excuse,” he submitted.