The Peoples Democratic Party has urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that his New Year address captures immediate and long-term means of tackling challenges of security, fuel and food shortage in the country.
While congratulating Nigerians on the dawning of the year 2025, the major opposition party charged President Tinubu not to taint the new year with an address that will not proffer immediate and concrete steps to reduce the price of fuel, address widespread hunger and provide clear-cut measures to guarantee security of lives and property in Nigeria.
PDP’s position, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, is predicated “on the fact that previous addresses by Mr. President in the last 18 months dwelt only on hopeless rhetoric, unsubstantiated statistics, false promises, conjured performance claims and validation of flawed elections without concrete mechanisms to address insecurity, resuscitate the economy, create jobs, ensure credible elections and guarantee better living standard for Nigerians.”
The PDP called on Tinubu to speak to the alleged issues of unbridled corruption, deceit, budget padding, reckless and wasteful spending directed to fund luxury appetite of APC leaders, insensitivity to the pains of citizens and total disregard to the obligation of government which has made life unbearable for Nigerians under his watch.
The party also challenged President Tinubu to use the address to give account of the billions of Naira officially reported to have accrued from the removal of subsidy on petroleum products.
“Furthermore, Mr. President should come clean on his public commitment to fight corruption by ordering an investigation and recovery of the over N25 trillion reportedly stolen by APC leaders and officials in government who have turned government agencies to Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to siphon funds for their benefit while other Nigerians wallow in abject poverty, hunger and starvation.
“Equally worrisome is the failure of the APC government to revisit and address the reported cases of alleged State-backed killings in various parts of the country, particularly the 2020 EndSars killings and inhuman denial of the massacre of promising Nigerian youths in that sad and repulsive incident.
“The last 18 months have been the most excruciating period to Nigerians since the Civil War with citizens now resorting to suicide and slavery mission aboard due to the hopeless situation foisted by the anti-people policies of the suppressive, exploitative and insensitive APC government which continues to reject every appeal and suggestion for review of such policies.
“More disheartening is that while Nigerians die of hunger and insecurity, APC leaders and officials in government continue to flaunt their luxury appetite and lifestyle in utter disdain to the feelings of millions of impoverished citizens,” Ologunagba stated.
The PDP cautioned the APC not to carry over such attitude into 2025 as doing so would further exasperate the patience and sensibility of Nigerians.
It, however, urged Nigerians not to lose hope in the nation but remain law-abiding and approach 2025 with optimism of a new dawn in their determination to defend the nation’s Constitutional Democracy, adherence to the Rule of Law, demand for transparency and accountability in government; in firm resistance to alleged suppression and pervasive violations by the APC.
