Former Cross River Governor Donald Duke has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s decision to purchase a new presidential jet, labeling it as a “failure in leadership” amidst the widespread hunger and economic hardship affecting many Nigerians.
Last week, the presidency revealed that it had acquired a new Airbus A330 to replace the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700, which was originally purchased during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
“There is no glamour in saying your people are going through hard times; it is a failure of your leadership. If I am the head of a family, I want my family to have everything. I don’t want life to be difficult for them,” he said while featuring on Inside Sources, a Channels TV programme, on Friday.
“If life is difficult, then I feel I have failed to provide for them or do the things I ought to have done. I would ask him (Tinubu) to see the Nigerian nation as his family. What is good for his family is good for the nation.
“Buying a new aircraft or yacht or living large is a failure. You can’t have kids who are hungry and you are living lavishly, going to parties and wearing the biggest agbada.”
Addressing the country’s security challenges, Duke urged President Tinubu to hold the leaders of security agencies accountable and stressed that poor performance by security officers should result in consequences.
He said, “Hold the security agencies responsible for a failure of security. There should be consequences. You cannot sit down and say you are a DPO, commissioner of police or you are GOC and crime is being committed in your domain. Hold them responsible.”
The former governor also urged President Tinubu to address the country’s economic challenges by seeking local solutions.
“The IMF or the World Bank would not give you those textbook solutions. It has to be an indigenous solution to our problems,” he said.
(allnews.ng)
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