The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, on Saturday said that the election of President Muhammadu Buhari last year saved Nigeria from collapse saying that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have plunged the country into an untimely grave if it had remained in government beyond May 29, 2015.

Ngige made the declaration while addressing officials of All Progressives Congress (APC) from the 326 wards in the three senatorial zones of Anambra State.

He stressed that though APC knew that PDP was running the country aground, the extent of mismanagement of the economy was unimaginable.

While stating that the President was disappointed with what he saw on assumption of office, he acknowledged the present hardship in the country and appealed to members of the party to be patient as the Buhari administration was making efforts to turn things around for the better.

Ngige observed that part of the delay in constituting the cabinet by the president was due to the bad shape of the economy when APC took over government saying that most ministries, departments and agencies were discovered to be heavily indebted to their contractors to the tune of trillions of naira.

In his words: “There was virtually nothing in the country’s reserve, despite what the PDP government officials were telling Nigerians. But the APC government has started organizing the economy by formulating policies that will put smiles on the faces of our people.

“For instance, the Federal Government has created job centers in all states of the federation where the unemployed will be exposed to skills acquisition on various trades. We are also introducing empowerment schemes and our party members will be given priority.

“In addition, government is also planning to introduce scholarship and bursary schemes and our party members will also be the first to benefit from it.”

The Minister further said that in addition to the 500,000 jobs for the unemployed youths, government would also offer employment to all graduates of agriculture and allied fields, in view of the renewed emphasis on food security in the country.

On federal roads in the South East, the minister said that the federal government had mobilized RCC, the construction giants, for the reconstruction of the dilapidated Enugu – Onitsha expressway, while SETRACO is to handle the Enugu – Umuahia – Aba expressway.

He noted that the main cause of the delay in getting the Second Niger Bridge done was the problem created by some people, who were insisting that government must pay them compensation before the work could go on.

•Photo shows Ngige.

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