President Muhammadu Buhari

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The Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress have come under fire for saying that President Muhammadu Buhari never promised Nigerians that he would achieve specific things within his first 100 days in office.

Nigerians on social media expressed disappointment at the party and Presidency’s excuses.

The protest on Twitter, which was titled, #100dayspromise, was directed at the APC and the Presidency for being insincere with Nigerians during the electioneering.

The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, said during an interview on Channels TV on Monday that Buhari never promised to do anything within his first 100 days in office.

Mohammed said, “Buhari never promised to do anything in 100 days, that’s the honest truth. You see, when you are running a campaign, all kinds of literature will emerge from all sorts of groups but there are only two documents that you can judge a party with: That is the constitution of the party and the manifesto of the party.

“Those are the only two documents that are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission; you can go to court or hold a party accountable for them.”

Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, distanced Buhari from the many promises that were made during the electioneering.

Shehu, who was the Director of Media of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, denied the authenticity of a document titled, “My Covenant with Nigerians”, which was purportedly signed by Buhari and posted on the APC’s website in March.

He also denied the authenticity of another list of promises titled, “One hundred things Buhari will do in 100 days.”

However, Kayode Ogundamisi, a social commentator, said on his official Twitter handle that it was hypocritical of the APC, having allowed the said documents detailing Buhari’s promises to be flying around on the Internet throughout the electioneering, only to rubbish the documents when it was time for reckoning.

He said, “The APC and President Buhari are telling us that they never saw the ‘100-day promise’ document; failing the integrity test so soon?

“Prof Yemi Osinbajo mentioned free meals as contained in the 100-day document during his US tour; is he also a loose organ?”

Another Twitter user, Okezie Moses, said, “If the 100-day promises are now ‘unrealistic’, it means votes were obtained by false pretences.”

Abdulrahman Muazu also wrote on Twitter, “The APC made a lot of unrealistic promises and all of us heard it directly or indirectly, so denying it now won’t work.”

Similarly, Obiogumu F. tweeted, “Buhari, APC and Lai Mohammed’s denials confirm lack of policy direction and a propaganda-based government.”

Nwachukwu Oluchukwu posted on his Twitter handle, “When will the APC and the Presidency stop lying? This is becoming childish.”

In the same vein, Akhehicols said, “Rather than deny the 100-day promises, Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina should focus on highlighting the achievements so far.”

A commentator on an online news website, The Cable, wondered why the APC did not deny the authenticity of the documents before the elections.

The commentator, Yasin, said, “You did not disown those so called publications then because they suited your agenda. Now all we get from you is persistent use of the Peoples Domocratic Party as an excuse to cover your gross incompetence. We are not fooled.

“The PDP left a mess; an ex-minister stole $6bn, etc. When will you stop distracting the masses and sit down to govern? Has PDP/Goodluck Jonathan prevented you from naming any ministers?

“Your first 100 days will pass without any significant achievement to show, not even the quick wins recommended by (Ahmed) Joda committee. Your present press release and others to come are aimed at dampening expectations. How can you achieve anything significant without ministers, without policies? This is not the change we voted for”

A member of the APC Situation Room, Gbenga Olorunpomi, who was one of those in charge of issuing press statements and other Internet materials on behalf of the party, had in March, sent emails to news rooms, including The PUNCH.

One of the emails had the document titled ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’. Efforts to reach Olorunpomi, who also live tweeted APC’s activities during electioneering, on Monday failed as his phone was switched off.