The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has no rectitude to preside over the nation’s Independence Anniversary as its insensitivity, impunity and oppressive proclivities are reminiscent of colonial rule.
PDP, in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan on Sunday, stated that instead of celebrating this year’s independence celebration, Nigerians are mourning under President Buhari as his administration has, in the last three years, turned the country into an impoverished colony where apparatus of state power has become instrument of oppression against the people.
The statement read in part: “The Buhari administration came into power on the premise of fake promises, lies and propaganda, which it has to sustain by using falsehood, intimidation and foisting of siege mentality on the citizenry.
“Under the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) regime, our nation’s constitution has become technically suspended. Governance has reverted to oppression. Our democratic institutions, particularly the National Assembly and the Judiciary, have come under siege; there is total disregard for justice and constitutionally guaranteed personal freedom. There is fear everywhere.
“Today, the world is particularly alarmed by the documented cases of human rights violations, executive high-handedness, arbitrary and extra-judicial executions, ethnic violence and bloodletting, unlawful arrests and detentions, torture, reported disappearances, restriction of free speech and press freedom, disobedience to court judgment, rigging of elections among others as detailed in the reports by the United States Department of States, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI).
“Due to the incompetence of the President Buhari’s administration leading to its inability to design a clear-cut economic policy direction, our once robust economy has been plunged into recession. Hunger, starvation and strange diseases have so ravaged our nation that compatriots now consider slavery and suicide mission as option for survival.
“The Buhari administration have completely demarketed our nation. Businesses have collapsed; local and Foreign Direct Investments have shrunken with over 30 million job losses in three years. Our naira has fallen from the N165/1USD in 2015 to N360 to 1USD; the cost of fuel has been hiked from N87 per litre to N145. Prices of staple food and essential commodities have soared beyond the reach of Nigerians and there is no hope in sight under the APC.
“Instead of building on the gains bequeathed by the PDP and properly harnessing our resources for economic growth, the Buhari administration resorted to borrowing and returned our beloved country to a debtor nation with over N22.4 trillion ($73.21 billion) debt profile to mortgage our future generation.
“The war against corruption is nothing but a witch-hunt against opposition members and perceived opponents of the Buhari administration, while members of the Presidency cabal, who have been indicted for frittering away over N10 trillion from our national coffers, enjoy Presidential cover.
“The PDP, therefore, holds that the Buhari-led administration lacks the rectitude to preside over our Independence Anniversary as Nigerians are aware that its address will be full of fake achievement indices and false promises.
“If anything, this administration now bears the stamp of’ deceit, incompetence and failure, for which Nigerians have resolved to vote it out in the 2019 general elections.
“The PDP, however, urges Nigerians not to despair but continue to support one another and remain steadfast on the platform of the repositioned PDP to return our nation to the path of good governance, come 2019”
