The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alleges President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day speech was full of falsehoods and lacked solutions to Nigeria’s serious concerns.
Debo Ologunagba, the PDP’s spokesperson, said Tinubu’s address was “another lethargic and windy rhetoric of false performance claims and empty promises ostensibly scripted to delude Nigerians in the face of abysmal failure” by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP called the president’s speech a “complete waste of time,” claiming it failed to address or provide solutions to the country’s various economic and security issues.
The statement reads:
“President Tinubu has, by this speech, further confirmed the insensitivity of his administration towards the plight and demands of Nigerians, which authenticates PDP’s position that there is no hope in sight under the overtly clueless, insensitive, and unresponsive APC-led government.”
The opposition party chastised Tinubu for failing to address Nigerians’ concerns by examining what it described as “life-suffocating policies,” adding that this failure has driven the country towards “totalitarianism.”
The PDP said:
“It is indeed shocking that Mr. President’s speech practically trivialized the very grave issues of pervasive economic hardship, unemployment, acute poverty, widespread hunger, and starvation in our country.”
“For which Nigerians took to the streets in August this year, claiming that about 10% of Nigerians have been plunged into hunger when confirmed reports show that over 100 million Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals and other necessities of life under the APC watch.”
The party also criticised Tinubu’s promises of economic improvement, cheaper living costs, and food sufficiency as “irreconcilable” with realities on the ground.
“Equally appalling is Mr President’s irreconcilable assurances of micro-economic improvement, lower cost of living, and food sufficiency, when in reality his administration has failed to lower the price of fuel — the key driver of our nation’s economy — failed to inject resources into the productive sector to boost employment, stem the slide of the Naira, and made no tangible investment in food production in any part of the country.”
The PDP accused Tinubu of failing to address fuel price reductions, job creation, or the value of the naira.
The party stated that the government’s “profligacy” and unwillingness to invest in the productive sector demonstrated a disconnect with the interests of ordinary Nigerians.
“The failure by Mr. President to listen to Nigeria, to reduce the price of fuel, create employment, and lift the value of the Naira by ending the profligacy in his government and directing resources to jumpstart our ailing productive sector, shows that the APC administration is completely disconnected with Nigerians, especially the youths.”
Furthermore, the party expressed alarm about the deterioration of democracy, citing the silence on topics like credible elections and attacks on individuals’ constitutionally granted rights.
“Moreover, from the speech, it is clear that the APC-led administration is determined to stifle our nation’s democracy; the very fundamental of any independent nation as it is loudly silent on the erosion of credible elections and constant attacks on constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens in our country under its watch.”