PDP: Tinubu’s media chat shows he doesn’t care about economic hardship

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Bola Tinubu’s comments during his media chat on Monday indicate that he is not worried about the economic hardship facing Nigerians.

In a statement reacting to Tinubu’s first media chat, Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, said the president is insensitive to the “widespread suffering and hardship” afflicting citizens for saying that he does not regret removing the petrol subsidy.

“The declaration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he has no regrets for the sudden removal of fuel subsidy without any cushioning measures to mitigate the resultant crippling effect on the productive sector, high cost of living, and associated hardship, which is now driving citizens to extreme poverty and early death, also confirms APC’s disconnection from the primary purpose of government, which is the welfare and security of the citizens,” the statement reads.

“It is instructive that President Tinubu in the chat admitted that Nigerians are bearing the brunt of the failure and inability of the APC administration under his watch to effectively police and secure our nation’s borders so as to prevent the smuggling of petroleum products to neighbouring countries.

“The PDP is disturbed that while the APC has failed to account for the proceeds saved from the removal of the subsidy, Nigerians are subjected to crushing economic hardship because the APC administration has failed in its fundamental duty of ensuring the territorial integrity of our nation.”

Ologunagba said rather than “admitting failure and seeking solutions,” Tinubu claimed that the nation’s economy has improved under his watch.

The PDP spokesperson said the economy has worsened with a “comatose productive sector, a deteriorating value of the naira and soaring inflation of 34.6 percent”.

Ologunagba said the stampedes recorded during palliative distribution showed that the nation is “indeed in perilous times under the APC”.

“The PDP holds that there is no hope in sight under the APC given its failure to embark on meaningful investments in critical sectors, including agriculture and food production, electricity, petroleum and gas, and small and medium-scale enterprises, which are the real drivers of the national economy,” he said.

Ologunagba said Tinubu’s assertion that Nigerians can now safely travel by road despite kidnappings on highways is false.

The PDP spokesperson asked the president to travel from Abuja to Lagos by road, visit markets, or walk on the streets to “properly gauge and appreciate the real situation in the country rather than relying on fabricated statistics being bandied by officials of his government”.