Your New Year Speech Empty, Directionless, Uninspiring- PDP Tells Buhari
By Taiye Lawal
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Friday, urged Nigerians to urgently rescue the country from collapse on account of the “incompetent, uninspiring and lethargic leadership of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.”
It described the President’s New Year address to the nation as “empty and directionless,” insisting that the speech confirmed that Nigeria had become a country without a leader.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party stated that the President’s speech underscored the urgent need for Nigerians to come together and salvage the nation from heading towards a failed state.
It said it was appalling that on New Year’s day, Buhari could only offer a troubled and frustrated nation a regurgitated script full of lame excuses and empty promises that addressed nothing.
The party claimed that Buhari failed to demonstrate capacity to play his part, having failed to find solutions to the security and economic challenges that had permeated the country under what it described as “his incompetent and lethargic leadership.”
Continuing, it said: “The lame excuses in Mr. President’s address underlines our national misfortune of a weak leadership that is unable to resolutely confront and vanquish bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and vandals, who are now holding the country hostage, as well as ravaging communities, kidnapping and beheading compatriots without restrain.”
It stated that the least Nigerians expected from the President in the New Year, was a decisive will to tackle security challenges by reviewing his parade and heeding Nigerians’ demands to rejig the country’s security architecture.
The PDP said the situation required more than an armchair commander-in-chief, who only dwelled on excuses for his failures, adding: “Buhari’s New Year address only points to the fact that Nigeria is in dire need of a leadership that is willing, able and ready to engage from the fronts.”
On the economy, it bemoaned the President’s failure to articulate a specific, definite economic recovery blueprint.
“He has no clear strategies to increase the value of the naira, repay and end foreign borrowings, revamp external reserves, assure foreign investors, move promises of job creation from the perpetual drawing board and guarantee food security, health care, among others,” it lamented.
The party said Buhari had the opportunity to redeem the image of his administration by taking steps that would address high cost of food, education and housing deficit, address fuel price hike, multiple taxes and tariffs that put pressure on businesses and families, as well enhance national productivity and grow the nation’s Gross Domestic Produce (GDP).
The opposition party said it was lamentable that the President, in his reference to the #EndSARS protests, did not make any decisive pronouncement to end the persecution of protesters or order a presidential inquest into the Lekki killings.
“Moreover, the President’s failure to make direct commitment on budgetary provisions exposes his lack of will and direction and shows that the next two years under his administration will leave Nigerians with forlorn hope,” it added.