Sony Neme, Asaba
The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari government of complicit in the suffering of its people and a beneficiary of their woes, which may encourage a nationwide protest worse than that of End SARS.
This was contained in a statement by the PDP, which also chided the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government on their inability to address the lingering fuel scarcity and other live threatening crisis that had doubled the hardship already being faced by Nigerians.
The party, in the statement signed by the party spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, frowned at Presidency’s carefree attitude to daunting challenges confronting the nation as a display of arrogance, inhumane and height of insensitivity, while reminding the ruling party that there was a limit to what the citizens could bear.
The statement reads in part: “Is it not an unpardonable dereliction of duty that while the nation is in turmoil and agonising under a collapsed national grid, protracted fuel crisis, distressed aviation sector, plummeting currency, crippled production and commercial activities, President Muhammadu Buhari remains aloof and absent as always?”
“The failure by President Buhari, who also doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to take immediate action, other than the snobbish stance by his Presidency that heavens will not fall because of fuel scarcity amounts to daring Nigerians to do their worse”, it states.
The party berated Buhari for not showing empathy, competence and concern to the plight of Nigerians and as the country rapidly drifts towards a looming precipice, saying “It is often said that when a government abdicates its responsibility to the citizens at whose pleasure it should serve, then that government is complicit in the suffering of its people and a beneficiary of their woes”.
“That frustration was already building into a nationwide restiveness that may result to the breakdown of law and order if allowed to fester. Our party fears that the situation is getting to a boiling point and can trigger a nationwide agitation that might be worse than the October 2020 End SARS if not addressed immediately”.
It warned that with the state of things in Nigeria, with the president clearly helpless, as millions of businesses, employment and sources of livelihood have collapsed across the country, paving way for acute hardship and widespread social tension, Nigerians may occupy the streets again.
