Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of Edo state, has taken another swipe at ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
He has repeatedly lampooned the Jonathan administration for allegedly plundering the nation’s wealth.
Oshiomole’s latest criticism came on Friday while addressing leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo.
He said if the money allegedly diverted under the Jonathan-led regime is shared among Nigerians, everyone would be “rich”.
The former labour leader said there is a need to constantly reiterate that the 16-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “plunged Nigerians into poverty”.
He said the APC under President Muhammadu Buhari has been making efforts to “pull us out of that hole”.
“It is our task as party activist to painstakingly explain to our people in the rural areas to understand who dug the hole that led to what we are experiencing today as a nation and the effort by President Muhammadu Buhari to gradually pull us out of that hole to the surface and begin to push and uplift us upward to that level in which every Nigerian will have to say I am a proud Nigerian,” Oshiomhole said.
“Poverty is not an act of God, it is the result of our economic history. And when you look at how much was stolen under the watch of Jonathan as president and the revelations the governor of Gombe state made, if you distribute the kind of money that was diverted under the PDP regime under President Jonathan, to 180 million Nigerians, each of us will have a swollen pocket.
“And we must help our people to appreciate that the challenge of rebuilding a house that was rocked beyond foundation, to build a complete new foundation cannot be an overnight work.
“What is important is that there is a commitment to refix, and the President has broken new grounds which may not have been amplified to a level that the rural people can see them.”
Oshiomhole, who recently declared his intention to contest the position of the national chairman of the APC, further said Buhari will be re-elected due to his achievements.
“I am very confident that we will win the next general election, have our President re-elected, have more governors elected under our platform, have more of our party members elected in the states and National Assemblies so that come February next year we will not only form a Federal Government we will have overwhelming majority in the National Assembly,” he said.
“We are preparing ourselves in getting the truth ready so we can engage. In Edo state, those who participated under the PDP philosophy of share the money, those who collected money for either their campaign or their personal interest, are now being called to account for it.”