Nigeria: May 29 – Tinubu’s one-year rule is the most demanding in the history of Nigeria – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the last year under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration led by President Ahmed Tinubu as the most difficult in Nigeria since the 1966-70 civil war.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, said this in a statement made late in the evening in Abuja on Tuesday.

He noted that the party reached this conclusion after carefully analyzing the deteriorating state of affairs of the nation over the past year.

Ologunagba said: “The PDP insists that the current growing insecurity, excruciating poverty, economic difficulties and general gloom in the country, requiring the flight of thousands of Nigerians, especially the youth of our nation, further confirm that there is no hope in sight for the APC to get back into the saddle.

“It is obvious that inflicting pain and misery on Nigerians remains the main policy of successive APC administrations, which has been reinforced by the ill-conceived twin anti-people policies of abolishing fuel subsidy and floating Naira without due regard to the welfare and safety of citizens.

“As if this was not enough, the APC administration continues its anti-people policies by arbitrarily increasing electricity tariffs and imposing multiple taxes on already impoverished Nigerians, without corresponding concrete development geared towards the welfare of the people.

“The consequences of these ill-conceived and poorly implemented policies without any mitigating measures to alleviate the resulting rising costs and associated hardships for the masses have led many people to premature death and extreme poverty.

“The continued use of poverty as a weapon of mass destruction by the APC is responsible for the widespread despondency in the country where people are only concerned with survival instead of showing interest in government policies and actions that largely discourage them.

“It is shocking that even though the Federal Government has announced the removal of fuel subsidy, forcing Nigerians to pay more for fuel, trillions of naira are reportedly still being paid in fuel subsidy into private bank accounts linked to corrupt APC leaders.

“Unfortunately, the APC, due to its insensitivity and disregard for citizens, has not chosen to hold Nigerians accountable for the expected savings in the Federation account as a result of the announced withdrawal of fuel subsidy.”

The PDP spokesperson further said: “Instead of addressing the grave economic challenges facing our nation, the APC administration continues to destroy our productive sectors with its ill-advised policies that have led to the exit of multinational giants including GlaxoSmithKline, Procter and Gamble, Microsoft among others with massive disinvestment largest oil and gas companies in our country over the last year.

“The consequence of this is massive loss of jobs and businesses, accompanied by socio-economic dislocation and uncertainty. In addition, there is an unemployment rate of over 37%, inflation of over 33% and a devaluation of the Naira of over 200% in the last year.

“It is therefore not surprising that Nigerians have completely lost hope in the APC administration which has no workable economic plan to lead our country out of its current despair.

“What is more disturbing is that on the security front, the APC has only been blunt about the security of lives and properties of Nigerians with mass killings, kidnappings and looting of communities by bandits and terrorists rampaging across the country.

“According to reports, since May 29, 2023, over 5,000 Nigerians have been killed and many more have been abducted in various parts of our country and the APC administration has failed to take any concrete action to stop this terrible trend.

“It is clear from reports on sub-national governance across the country that the only hope for our nation lies in the performance of PDP-elected governors who continue to deliver life-enhancing citizen empowerment, human capital and infrastructure projects development that have a positive impact on people’s well-being.

“Our party, therefore, calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to use the opportunity of his one-year term in office to deeply reflect on the state of the country under his watch; took a critical look at his policies and presented a clear economic action plan that will strengthen. He should also address allegations of corruption and wastefulness in the administration.

“The PDP commends Nigerians for their steadfastness and urges them not to allow the failures of the APC administration to make them lose hope in Democracy and the Nation.”

Vanguard News