By Myke Uzendu
As the Nation prepares for the celebration of its 21years of uninterrupted democracy and five year of this administration, The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked President Buhari to disclose the real status of unemployment, economy and corruption in his administration.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan on Wednesday counselled the President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid false performance claims and empty promises on the celebration of May 29 Inauguration Day.
The party said that President Buhari should address the bloodletting, intimidation, coercions, abuse of power and human right violations that characterized the 2019 Presidential elections adding that such is the only way to achieve a healing in the national polity.
The PDP further urged Mr. President not to allow his handlers push him into sugarcoating the failures of the last one year, which had been characterized by corruption, worsened insecurity and economic hardship.
“Mr. President should contemplate on the alarm raised by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, that unemployment rate under this administration will hit a devastating 33.5 percent this year.
“Mr. President should also reflect that under his watch, our naira which was valued at N160 to a dollar under the PDP, fell to N500 and then to the current N390; that his administration increased the price of fuel from where the PDP left it at N87 per liter to N145 and only reduced it to N125 after much pressure from our party; that his government increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) from 5% to 7.5%, despite the attendant spike in costs of food and essential services.
“We urge Mr. President to pause and ponder over the fact that whereas the PDP administration paid off foreign debts and grew our economy; his administration has continued to accumulate debts and depleting our foreign financial instruments with reckless abandon” PDP stated.
The party reminded the President that he cannot use the COVID-19 pandemic as excuse for failure as his administration as he has lost grip of the security and economic situation in the country even before the outbreak of the scourge.
The PDP urged President Buhari to align with the expectations of Nigerians by apologizing for his failures and getting more competent hands to manage the affairs of the nation in the remaining three years of his administration.
