PDP criticizes Tinubu, claims that 150 million Nigerians cannot afford daily meals

Three months after President Bola Tinubu assumed office, the Peoples Democratic Party claims that no fewer than 150 million Nigerians are having trouble affording daily, basic meals.

As the country was on the brink of collapse, the biggest opposition party claimed, it was because the administration “lacks the acceptability and followership of citizens; a situation that has created an atmosphere and feeling of absence of governance in the country.”

This was revealed by the party on Monday in a news release released in Abuja and signed by Mr. Debo Ologunagba, national publicity secretary.

It is appalling that, over the past two months, more than 150 million Nigerians are unable to purchase their daily meals, and that families are now going to bed hungry.

The elimination of the subsidy and the floating of the naira by the administration inflicted an intolerably high cost of living, hampered national productivity, destroyed millions of enterprises, and resulted in a significant loss of jobs.

International firms leaving Nigeria and leaving millions of Nigerians jobless has snowballed into a disastrous loss of investor confidence, harming the small and medium-sized businesses that are the real engines of our country’s economy.

The statement claims that the Federal Government’s palliatives, which were intended to help reduce poverty in the states, have not done much to lessen the impact of the suffering on the country.

The Federal Government was further criticized for not doing more to ensure “the safety of lives of our citizens, despite the killing of over 500 Nigerians in Plateau, Benue, Niger, Kaduna and other states of the federation, with many more being kidnapped since May 29, 2023.”

“The APC government’s failure to take decisive action following the kidnapping of eight corps members who were en route to Sokoto State for their one-year mandatory national service is another obscene sign of the APC government’s insensitivity toward the security, safety, and wellbeing of citizens,”

The recent downing of a Nigerian military aircraft, which resulted in the deaths of our brave and valiant military members, is more alarming because the APC government has not issued a statement to that effect.

“Currently, under the APC, Nigeria’s life expectancy has drastically decreased. Residents and citizens are constantly on edge and unable to travel freely across the nation for fear of being murdered or kidnapped.

Instead of defending Nigerians, the APC government is desperately attempting to drag our country into a war with Niger Republic that is unnecessary and poses no threat to our national interests.

“Our party is concerned that, if urgently addressed, the general feeling of hopelessness, anxiety, distress, and disconnection in the nation could deteriorate into a serious crisis.”

Bala Ibrahim, the APC’s director of publicity, responded by calling it “unfortunate the PDP was showing strains of fatigue and guilt.”

“The PDP is portraying itself as a guilty party,” he declared. It is merely an admission of all the flaws and shortcomings that led to the situation in which Nigerians find themselves today. President Bola Tinubu’s APC administration is making every effort to give Nigerians renewed hope.

“The PDP failed to seize the initiative. I can assure you that if the list of gasoline subsidy recipients is made public, the majority of those on it will be PDP members who have wasted the nation’s resources and who lack the shame to admit to Nigerians that “we engaged in squander-mania for the entire period we ruled the country.”

“The APC government is now attempting to enact reforms and measures to reestablish sanity and hope. But the PDP has started these antics in an effort to mislead or turn Nigerians away from the truth because they are aware that in the end, people will reap what they sow and they will be condemned.

The PDP administration was blamed by the APC publicity director for the nation’s iconic “Chibok girls” abduction and other arbitrary kidnapping incidents. He also criticized the opposition party for attempting to use the current abduction of some corps members for political purposes.

According to Ibrahim, this is why the majority of Nigerians promised not to reinstate the PDP to power.

It is disgusting for the party whose watch or leadership saw the Chibok girls kidnapped and held captive for an eternity before they were freed—even if it was done piecemeal under the leadership of the APC—to talk about some corps members being abducted. They ought to repent and bury their heads in the sand.

They have been demoted by Nigerians, who will never again support the PDP in elections. Today, Atiku will attack Asiwaju, tomorrow, Shettima, and the next day, it will search for anyone. I’ll tell you up front that after he fails in his attempt to demand Tinubu’s academic credentials and persuade Nigerians to believe that he is a felon, he would probably claim that the president is not from Nigeria. I have no idea where he might turn to hunt for that case,” he said.