The Nigerian Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, has described the directive by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to its lawmakers to block executive bills in the National Assembly as anti-people.

The minister’s comment is the latest of the criticisms that have trailed the directive since it was issued on January 23.

Mr Maku told reporters that he wondered why the APC would want to truncate the democratic process.

“If you say that a budget should not be passed, what it means is that you are endangering the lives of Nigerians. It means that you are telling farmers, teachers traders, who are depending on the budget to go to hell. You are endangering their survival just because of your personal interest. It is not something that anybody who loves this country and a democrat should encourage,” Mr Maku said.

He said that the statement was made in bad faith, insisting that no party that had the Nigerian people at heart would make such a statement.

The minster also stated that governance was about the people of Nigeria and not about President Goodluck Jonathan, asking the APC to join the administration to work for national transformation.