Hardship: 'Tinubu is grinding Nigeria to a halt' - PDP

The main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has raised concern over the prevailing hardship in the country, saying that Nigeria is fast grinding to a halt under President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

PDP in a statement by Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary of the party on Monday in Abuja laments that Nigeria is at the edge of the precipice under the APC which lacks the acceptability and followership of citizens; a situation that has created an atmosphere and feeling of absence of governance in the country.

The party also accused the present administration of neglecting the situation and instead angling for war in Niger, while in the last two months, “over 150 million Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals with families now going to bed on empty stomachs.”

Ologunagba said: “Our Party is alarmed that there is a serious disconnection between the government and the citizens arising from the ill-planned and hasty implementation of policies that have brought excruciating hardship, horrifying insecurity, and a general sense of apprehension that is already threatening the peace, unity and corporate existence of our nation.

“The administration’s lack of ingenuity, tact and sensitivity towards the well-being of Nigerians in the removal of subsidy and floating of the naira inflamed unbearable high cost of living, crippled our national productivity, crashed millions of businesses and sparked massive job loss with attendant escalated poverty, hunger, insecurity and hopelessness across the country.”

PDP said the situation has now snowballed into a dangerous loss of investors’ confidence with international companies exiting our nation and leaving millions of Nigerians stranded in the labour market with a crippling effect on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which are the real drivers of our national economy.

The statement further said the failure of the APC government to decisively act since the abduction of eight corps members who were on their way to Sokoto State for their one-year mandatory national service is another ugly testament to the government’s insensitivity towards the security, safety, and well-being of citizens.

“More disturbing is the recent downing of a Nigerian military aircraft with attendant loss of lives of our brave and gallant military personnel without a corresponding reassuring statement from the APC government.

“Instead of protecting Nigerians, the APC government is desperate to plunge our nation into a needless war in the Niger Republic over a conflict in that nation that does not constitute any threat whatsoever to our national interest.

“Our party is concerned that the general sense of despondency, anxiety, distress, and disconnection in the country, if not urgently addressed, could deteriorate into a serious crisis,” the PDP said.