‘It conveyed hypocrisy and deceit’ — LP faults Tinubu’s New Year speech

The Labour Party (LP) says President Bola Tinubu’s New Year speech was a display of dishonesty and disregard for Nigerians.

In a statement on Monday, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the LP, said the party like “most right thinking Nigerians is appalled by the hollowness of the New Year Speech by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Nigerians”.

“If anything, the speech conveyed to Nigerians the high level of hypocrisy, deceit and lack of empathy which has become the guiding principle of the All Progressives Congress administration which Tinubu leads,” the statement reads.

“It is depressing to note that the President and his handlers didn’t deem it fit to include a word of comfort for the families of over 200 persons killed by terrorists during the Christmas Eve massacre in Plateau State. What a shame.

“The President’s helplessness in the face of his glaring failure to address the critical issues of insecurity, decayed infrastructure, collapse of the manufacturing and productive sectors, inflation and the Naira to Dollar exchange rate which is spiraling out of control is written all over the speech.

“There was no word about the alleged massive looting of the nation’s resources by appointees and party leaders in various sectors.”

The LP also faulted the president for saying every decision he made since he assumed office on May 29, 2023 was done in the best interest of the country.

“How does his ill advised decision on fuel subsidy removal without a plan to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians translate into an action taken in the national interest?,” Ifoh asked.

“Of what benefit was the millions of the nation’s dwindling foreign reserves frittered away under the guise of attending the climate change summit in Dubai to Nigerians?

“How do we begin to repair the damage being done to our democratic institutions such as the Judiciary, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC among others by the APC Administration?

“While we call for prayers for our nation in this critical point of our history, we will continue to call on the National Assembly to look beyond party lines and ensure that the spirit and the letter of our constitution is upheld at all times.”