May 29: Address Insecurity, Review Policies, PDP Tells Tinubu

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has tasked President Bola Tinubu to address insecurity and reverse all economically suffocating policies, describing his two years in office as a massive disappointment.

The party said the last two years have been nightmarish, adding that Nigerians have gone through hell under the insensitive Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government, which, it said, holds no good for the citizens.

Besides insecurity, PDP also told the president to check his administration’s wholesale corruption, greed, unbridled profligacy, reckless misdirection of resources, arrogance in failure, and totalitarian tendencies. This administration has shown itself to be anti-people and impervious to Nigerians’ suffering.

National publicity secretary of PDP, Hon Debo Ologungaba, in a statement said “As a Party, we restate our position that any government that cares for the wellbeing of the people and has an idea of macro-economic policy management would have reckoned that an abrupt increase in petrol price and devaluation of the Naira as executed by the Tinubu administration would cripple the productive sector.

“With the Naira which exchanged for N167 to a US Dollar under the PDP administration now exchanging for over N1,600; petrol which sold for N87 per liter under the PDP now selling for over N1,000 per liter; with nearly 40% inflation rate, over 42% youth unemployment rate, acute food shortage, frightening rise in criminality and social vices, the situation in Nigeria has become so unbearable that many talented citizens are now fleeing the country with others resorting to suicide to escape the agonies inflicted by the APC government.

“More troubling is that from May 2023, when President Tinubu took office, more than 600,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists and bandits who are emboldened by the APC administration’s apparent negligence and failure to ensure the safety and security of the nation and her citizens.

“In the last two years of worsened insecurity, comatose infrastructure and economic uncertainties, multinationals are leaving Nigeria in droves to neighbouring countries where governments are alive to their responsibilities.”

The party added that, unfortunately, instead of listening to the party and other well-meaning Nigerians, the Tinubu administration resorted to multiple taxes, exploitative charges, and reckless foreign borrowing, accumulating to N182.91 trillion (with the latest request of a fresh $24.14 billion (N38.24tn) with no corresponding development project or programme that benefits the people.

“More distressing is that while Nigerians suffer, the APC is obsessed with turning our country into a one-party state, while frittering the nation’s scarce resources for the acquisition of jets, pricey yachts, luxury mansions, expensive foreign trips and lavish lifestyle to the chagrin of other citizens.

“The PDP once again counsels President Tinubu to recognise that Nigerians are seriously hurting. Mr. President, in his second anniversary address, should therefore avoid the APC’s usual resort to rhetoric and false performance claims that are at variance with the realities of life in Nigeria.

“Mr. President should take advantage of the remaining two years of his administration to redeem his image by addressing the issue of insecurity, reviewing all suffocating policies to bring down the price of petroleum products and shore up the value of the Naira while engaging more skilful hands to manage the nation’s economy.

“Our Party urges Nigerians not to give up hope at this trying time but continue to rally on the platform of the PDP in preparation to vote out the APC and its woes in 2027,” the PDP said.