The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday, maintained that Nigerians have become fed up with the Muhammadu Buhari administration and are now rallying under the main opposition party.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP described the recent attack on it by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, “as a feeble kick of a weak horse, in another failed attempt to beguile Nigerians.”
Recall that the presidential spokesman had described the PDP as “a university of lies.”
The PDP said it is not surprised that “the Buhari Presidency is rattled by the bitter truth that Nigerians are fed up with President Muhammadu Buhari as well as his All Progressives Congress (APC) and are rallying on our platform to rescue our nation from misrule.”
The party noted: “It is indeed pathetic that the Buhari Presidency thinks that it can beguile Nigerians again after all they got from it in almost six years are failed promises, a wrecked economy, weak currency, excruciating poverty, surging unemployment, unbridled treasury looting, patronizing of bandits, terrorists and kidnappers, double economic recession and a rapid decline to the horrible status of a failed state.
“Under President Buhari, all security, economic and social indicators have gone negative. It therefore amounts to a slap on the sensibility of Nigerians for the Buhari Presidency to attempt to compare the once thriving lives of Nigerians under the PDP, to the sorry state of affairs in our country, which has become a terrorist haven and world poverty capital in a space of six years.
“What can the Buhari Presidency say to the fact that when President Buhari took over power in 2015, our economy was rated one of the fastest growing in the world with Fitch’s B+ rating, only for his administration to wreck it within six years, turned our country into a beggar nation that is now borrowing from all parts of the world?”
Comparing its era in government with the present administration, the PDP stated: “When President Buhari took over from the PDP, our naira was at N160 to a dollar. Today under the incompetent and corrupt administration of APC and Buhari, our naira has fallen to almost N500 to a dollar, wrecking our national purchasing power and making Nigeria an object of jest among the comity of nations.
“Why won’t Nigerians be fed up with the Buhari Presidency when under its watch, more than 30 million businesses have collapsed, while over 60 million Nigerians have lost their means of livelihood due to obnoxious economic policies that scare away both domestic and foreign investors?
“Why won’t Nigerians be fed up with the Buhari Presidency when under its voodoo economy, a liter of fuel, which sold for N87 per liter under the PDP, now sells as high as N170 to N200 under the Buhari and APC’s Eldorado economy.
“Today, staple food had gone beyond the reach of majority of Nigerians so much so that a bag of rice which sold for about N10,000 now sells for N30,000; that a measure of garri which sold for N100 now sells for N350 to N400 and a liter of palm oil which sold for N200 now sells for up to N600? The list is endless.
“Under Buhari’s watch, most families cannot afford basic necessities of life; parents cannot pay their children’s school fees, abandoned projects litter the nation; hunger and starvation, divorces, broken families, strange disease and sudden death have become so prevalent that compatriots prefer suicide and slavery mission as options.
“Is it not distressing that terrorists that have been pushed to the fringes by the PDP administration have resurged and now being patronised by government officials as they ravage our communities and behead our citizens?
“Today, not only that corruption has increased in our nation under President Buhari as reported by reputable organisations like Transparency International, Nigeria now ranks as the third country with the highest level of terrorism in 2019, after Iran and Afghanistan.
“Indeed, the situation is so bad that even Mr. President could not summon the courage to honour an invitation by the House of Representatives to give account of how his administration has managed the affairs of our nation.
“Why won’t Nigerians crave for the return of the PDP, a party whose administration paid our foreign debts, grew the economy, revolutionized the telecommunication, aviation, power, agriculture and banking sectors among others and gave life a meaning in Nigeria.
“The only achievement by the Buhari Presidency is stagnating the economy, mortgaging of our sovereignty through accumulation of foreign debt, increase in taxes and tariffs, reneging in all its promises and making life unbearable for the people.”
The PDP challenged the Buhari administration to search its conscience, “reflect on the devastations it has brought on our nation and accept that life is better under the PDP.”
