Subsidy Palliative: Tinubu’s Speech Another APC’s Bogus Promises – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said Monday’s broadcast by President Bola Tinubu to Nigerians was hurriedly put together by his handlers in the desperate bid to hoodwink and beguile Nigerians, blackmail the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and divert public attention from the life-discounting experiences imposed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

National Public Secretary Debo Ologunagba, at a press conference on Tuesday, said the broadcast was a reminder of the APC’s bogus promises to Nigerians before it came to power in 2015 with Tinubu as national leader.

Ologunagba recalled that the APC had promised Nigerians three million jobs a year; provide loan to small business to create at least five million new jobs by 2019; provide allowances to discharged but unemployed youth corps members for 12 months, among others.

“Nigerians are aware that the APC, with Senator Tinubu as national leader, never fulfilled any of these promises, but rather remained unaccountable and turned our once prosperous nation to the poverty capital of the world where over 100 million citizens cannot afford their daily meals and other basic necessities of life,” he noted.

The PDP spokesperson described Tinubu’s speech as “merely aspirational,” and said it was meant only to mesmerize the citizens.

According to him, the speech was bereft of any concrete plans to tackle the energy crisis, production issues, monetary challenges and worsening insecurity in the country.

“It is instructive to observe from the speech, that the APC has no marshal plan to stimulate domestic crude refining as an answer to the crippling energy and manufacturing deficits in the country, instead the APC has committed our nation to the mercies of foreign interests and market forces.

“The submission in the speech that there are no other ways but for Nigerians to suffer hardship and high costs further exposes APCs scandalous cluelessness, lack of capacity and deficiency of innovative ideas to effectively steady and manage a nation like Nigeria.

“It also shows APC’s insensitivity to the suffering of Nigerians and lackadaisical approach to serious issues of governance.

“It is like the case of you take it or leave it! The APC should know that there is frustration in the society in the face of its apparent lack of ideas and leadership focus,” he added.

Ologunagba boasted that with a deft, transparent and innovative management of resources, economic potentials, national comparative advantage and expanded value chain in refining capacity, fuel should not sell for more than N150 per liter in Nigeria.

“It is therefore preposterous and a mockery of leadership that instead of stimulating domestic production of CNG-fueled and alternative transportation system, the APC is planning to spend a whooping N100 billion to acquire 3,000 units of 20-seater buses for over 120 million Nigerians who rely on public transportation,” he said.

According to him, this would amount to three units of 20-seater buses for an average 100,000 public transport commuters in each of the 774 Local Government Areas across the country.

“This shows that the APC is completely disconnected from reality and lacks the capacity to manage a country as complex as Nigeria,” the PDP spokesperson stated.

He also observe that the speech had no provision for riverine and coastal transportation as well as haulage, which he noted, is the mainstay and driver of Nigeria’s trade, commerce, agriculture and industrial sectors.

Ologunagba also said Tinubu’s speech had no words of assurance on security which is the primary duty of government.

“There are no words for victims of escalated mindless killings, abduction and marauding in various parts of the country especially in the last two months.

“This shows an unpardonable disconnection and lack of empathy to the plight of Nigerians,” he said.

New Telegraph.