The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s Monday media chat, claiming it confirms the president’s insensitivity and disconnection from Nigerians.
The main opposition party blamed Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the widespread hardship and suffering faced by Nigerians.
In a statement on Tuesday, PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba attributed the pervasive economic hardship to the administration’s ill-implemented and anti-people policies. The statement highlighted Tinubu’s declaration that he has no regrets for the sudden removal of the fuel subsidy without any cushioning measures to mitigate the crippling effect on the productive sector, high cost of living, and associated hardship driving citizens to extreme poverty and early death.
The PDP noted that Tinubu admitted Nigerians are bearing the brunt of the APC administration’s failure to effectively police and secure the nation’s borders to prevent the smuggling of petroleum products to neighboring countries. The party expressed concern that while the APC has failed to account for the proceeds saved from the removal of the subsidy, Nigerians are subjected to crushing economic hardship due to the administration’s failure to ensure the nation’s territorial integrity.
The PDP also criticized Tinubu’s claim that the nation’s economy has improved under his watch, arguing that the situation has worsened with a comatose productive sector, deteriorating value of the Naira at N1,700 to the US Dollar, 34.6% inflation, and 40% unemployment rates in the last 18 months. The party pointed to the widespread food stampede in various parts of the country, which recently led to the death of about 80 Nigerians, as evidence of the perilous times under the APC.
The PDP asserted that there is no hope in sight under the APC, given its failure to invest meaningfully in critical sectors such as agriculture and food production, electricity, petroleum and gas, and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, which are the real drivers of the national economy. The party also found alarming Tinubu’s claim that Nigerians can now freely and safely travel by road despite the reality of banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery, as well as the worsened condition of highways across the country.
The PDP challenged President Tinubu to travel from Abuja to Lagos by road, visit markets, or take a walk on the streets of any city in Nigeria to properly gauge and appreciate the real situation in the country rather than relying on fabricated statistics from government officials.
