Buhari must be determined to fire tired legs ― Okorocha

Immediate past Imo State governor and Senator representing Imo West, Rochas Okorocha, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take firm action against appointed officials not meeting up to public expectations in his government.

He gave the charge on Monday while playing host to members of the Integrity Group, comprising the Non-National Working Committee and National Executive Committee members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former Imo State governor who claimed that certain individuals holding sensitive positions in the present administration were frustrating genuine efforts of President Buhari to deliver dividends of democracy maintained that ordinary Nigerians would not feel the impact of his administration until he weed out dead woods.

He said: “I must say here that what works in most developed countries is hire and fire which brings discipline in the system. There is nothing as bad as persons who occupy government positions and are not working but are kept for sentiment basis. They should be fired to create room for those who can perform. There is nobody on earth who is Alpha and Omega, if you can’t do the job, be sure that someone can do it.

“We no longer have what I term as a collective responsibility, rather we have selfish responsibility where leaders are busy thinking about the next election and what positions they can occupy instead of thinking about the dividends of democracy as it should affect the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

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Senator Okorocha also faulted the reward system of the APC which he dismissed as defective. He argued that those who worked for the success of the APC have since been stripped of party patronage while those empowered have isolated genuine party faithful.

“We, therefore, come back to the root of the problem in our party because the very people who worked for the success of the party, are the ones that have been neglected. Rather, those who came yesterday have taken over. This is why there is so much anger from the ward level to the national.

“Those who have been empowered, have refused to empower others from the ward to the national level. The issue of empowerment is empowering one person so that he can empower others but those who have been empowered now have new friends and neglected the foot soldiers and at the end of the day, it is President Muhammadu Buhari that takes the brunt.

“This is why I advise that we go back to the drawing board and some of these laudable projects should be extended to the party, I do not see any ward chairman and his 26 members who cannot farm under the Anchor-Borrower Program. So, the policies of our government are just hanging and do not get to the grassroots. Owners of our party are not participating in the running of the party.”

Appraising the performance of the party in the recent governorship election in Edo State, Senator Okorocha said the dwindling fortunes of the ruling party should be a cause of concern to its members.

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“What is wrong has become right but until we address that, we continue to grope in the dark but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Things can still be made right.

It is not the best of news that we lost Edo State. A national party like APC has no presence in South-South. It is sad news but we must make a sacrifice to make the party grow.”

Earlier in his remarks, leader of the Integrity Group, Sadiq Abubakar said the group has been engaging in consultations with party leaders to seek their views on how to reshape the APC ahead of next general elections.

“Our task is to identify what we have done well and look at things we haven’t done well. That’s why we are conducting leaders like you.

“Abubakar restated concern over the alienation of ordinary APC faithful from party patronage.

“So many people have to be compensated. There are so many appointments and they must be integrated. For APC to remain in power beyond 2023, those in leadership position must look at how to support our people. They need to do more,” he said.