Bishop blames former governors for economic woes

The newly inaugurated chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Kogi State chapter, Bishop John Ibenu has blamed the former governors who held sway in their various states while former President Goodluck Jonathan was in the saddle for the present economic predicament of the country.

Speaking after his inauguration in Lokoja recently, Ibenu said Nigerians should not blame Jonathan but those governors who through the Nigerian Governors’ Forum stopped Jonathan from his effort to save for the rainy day.

He said: “Some years back, the former President (Jonathan) said Nigeria should create Sovereign Wealth Fund and let money continue to be saved for the future as the money that was coming then would not continue. But some state governors and members of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum went to court to block that effort and the matter went to Supreme Court and they said it was illegal, so they collected everything and squandered; so, we are in it.”

He advised the current government to bend backwards and learn from the mistakes of the past administration of Jonathan for prosperity, saying the issue was beyond party affiliation as even in his church all other political party followers are represented.

On the bail out fund that Kogi State is yet to access to help cushion the effect of non-payment of salaries for some months, the Bishop berated President Buhari for reneging on his promise to be for nobody and but for everybody.

“Our president spoke to us on a promising note on the day he took over, May 29, 2015 that he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody. He belongs to all Nigerians but so far, all the states are not equal. Some states got money, other states didn’t get.”