President Muhamamdu Buhari’s critics have been labeled mad men by a former Governor for holding a different political view.

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources who is also an ex-Governor of old Cross River State and Chairman, Akwa Ibom APC Caucus, Chief Don Etiebet

The former Minister of Petroleum Resources who is also an ex-Governor of old Cross River State and Chairman, Akwa Ibom APC Caucus, Chief Don Etiebet has called those who hold a different view that President Muhammadu Buhari is not performing mad men.

He said this during an interview with Vanguard in Uyo. When asked about Buhari’s performance so far after two years in office and other topical national issues, this is what he has to say:

“If anybody is saying Buhari is not performing, that person is a mad man because, within two years, he has laid a foundation for growth, foundation for development. We must have that foundation first. For 56 years of our independence, that foundation was not there and that is why you see things like this. So with this foundation laid, we are now going to have something to stand on to develop.

“Let me tell you, I worked with President Muhammadu Buhari when he was not yet President. He was a presidential candidate under ANPP when I was the national chairman and I see a man, who is very sincere and committed to the development of Nigeria; who feels the pains of why Nigeria is like this after so many years of independence. A man, always in a state of melancholy feeling the pains of how Nigerians have squandered our resources, about the enormous corruption that Nigeria has found itself in. And when you see him, you would feel his pains too about the overwhelming problems of Nigeria; how Nigerians behave the way they are behaving. It is for this reason he ran for the presidency three times; it was the fourth time God heard his prayers, our prayers and brought him to save Nigeria.

“And he has come and you know the enormous achievements he has made. Could you imagine where Nigeria would have been by now if he did not come? Maybe Boko Haram would have hoisted its flag in Aso Villa. They were already in Abuja. You saw all the bombings in Abuja, the previous governments with all the money they allocated, they put them in their pockets, sending soldiers so callously empty handed to be killed in the field. They were not sincere and honest in their dealings. They did not love Nigeria, all the money that was given to them to fight insecurity; they put it in their pockets and used the balance to buy people for the elections.

You guys in the media must start to ask questions. That is why all these 56 years of independence we are nowhere in development. It pains us a lot and that is how PMB is feeling because, before his administration, corruption had killed development. People were so corrupt and government agencies were so corrupt that on almost every desk was a corrupt man. Governors did everything with impunity, state revenues were shared as it is being revealed every day. See how much has been recovered into the TSA. As atthe last count, it was about N5.1 trillion! Where would that money have gone otherwise?

“Would you have seen it or what it has been used for? How much is the proposed 2017 budget? About N6 trillion, so, we already have enough naira to run the budget except for the foreign exchange content, which is improving by the day. I believe immediately the budget is approved, more dollars would come in from foreign investors and development partners in infrastructure. Moreover, those government people, who used to take government money during monthly allocations to buy dollars, at any rate, to stash away, may not have that opportunity again. There would be no more money to buy dollars in the black market and keep in containers, in houses, and in tanks again. If anybody is saying Buhari is not performing, that person is a mad man because, within two years, he has laid a foundation for growth, foundation for development. We must have that foundation first. For 56 years of our independence, that foundation was not there and that is why you see things like this. So with this foundation laid, we are now going to have something to stand on to develop.”