The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has slammed President Bola Tinubu for attempting to politicise hardship in the country, insisting that Nigerians have a right to protest.
PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on Tuesday, while reacting to claims by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, that the opposition parties were sponsoring protests in the country against economic hardship, said:
“The PDP condemns the vicious attempts by the Tinubu Presidency and the APC to politicise the protest by Nigerians against the current economic hardship and worsening insecurity in the country occasioned by the anti-people policies and unprecedented corruption of the President Bola Tinubu-led APC administration.
“The action of the APC in threatening Nigerians for exercising their democratic and Constitutional right to protest in the face of misrule, agonizing poverty, hunger, killings and other harrowing experiences under the Tinubu administration shows that the APC is insensitive and relishes the life-discounting situation in the country.
“This approach by the APC, instead of listening to the people, is not only offensive but akin to pushing Nigerians to the wall and daring them to do their worse.
“It is an assault on the sensibility of the people that rather than providing answers to how the Tinubu-led APC government in a space of nine months, turned the nation’s economy upside down leading to terrifying food scarcity and catastrophic high cost of living, the APC is seeking to label and clamp down on the suffering masses.
“The APC is insensitive to the fact that because of its policies more than 104 million citizens have sunk deeper into poverty; Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals with families now going to bed on empty stomach as poverty rate soars to over 46 percent.
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“Any government that has an idea of macro-economic policy management ought to have recognized that the suffocating policies of abrupt increase in the pump price of petroleum products, high cost of electricity and arbitrary floating of the Naira as executed by the Tinubu administration without due considerations, would have excruciating consequences to the economy as being witnessed today.
“These thoughtless policies by President Tinubu and the APC are responsible for the crippling of the productive sector with 28 percent inflation rate, crashing of the Naira from N167 to over N1,500 to a Dollar, closure of millions of businesses and mass exodus of international companies from Nigeria resulting to a distressing 41 percent unemployment rate and unbearable pressure on millions of families across the country.
“Today, Nigerians are resorting to suicide while thousands of our promising youths are leaving the country in droves.
“Is it not provocative that in the last eight years and nine months, instead of deploying the nation’s resources for the improvement of critical infrastructure and the productive sectors, Nigerians have witnessed massive looting of over N20 trillion by APC leaders and its officials in government through direct pillaging of government vaults, budget padding, contract inflation, oil subsidy scam, palliative racketeering and phony programmes which have no benefit and consequence to the lives of the citizens?
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“Added to these are the nauseating reports of seething corruption in the Tinubu administration including exposed looting of billions of Naira by cabinet ministers and senior officials as reported in the embezzlement of Palliative Funds without concrete actions being taken by the government to investigate, recover and sanction those involved in the raging scam.
“Moreover, the APC and the Tinubu administration have remained insensitive to the mass killings, kidnapping and other acts of terrorism ravaging the country without proffering any concrete action plan and policies to address this multifarious consuming carnage.
“Since President Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, no fewer than 5000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists apparently emboldened by the laidback attitude and body language of Mr. President who has failed to show seriousness on issues of security or empathy to victims either by words or action.
“It is sad that in all of these, President Tinubu is missing in action as he holidays in France at the expense of the Nigerian treasury.
“The APC must understand and come to terms with the fact that there is frustration in the land because of the suffocating economic and social policies; laidback attitude to security and massive corruption in the Tinubu administration.
“Instead of being hypocritical by pointing fingers at the opposition, the APC should admit the failure of its policies and take urgent and concrete action to get President Tinubu to lift his knees off the neck of Nigerians so that the people can breathe,” the party added.
