A pro-democracy group, The Democratic Front (TDF), has carpeted the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), over its recent critique of the economic policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
A communiqué at the end of the PDP National Executive Committee meeting held in Abuja demanded for a review of the floating of the naira, while also faulting the manner in which the fuel subsidy was discarded.
The PDP noted that Nigerians are facing biting economic hardship as a result of the prevailing economic policies of the Tinubu administration.
The TDF in a statement issued and signed by Danjuma Mohammed and Wale Adedayo, Chairman and Secretary of the group, respectively, declared that the erstwhile ruling party could not insulate itself from the economic predicament of Nigerians.
It maintained that for 16 years, the PDP plundered the nation’s reserves while national assets were distributed to its cronies under the guise of privatisation.
“The position of the PDP calls for outright condemnation and repudiation by every well-meaning Nigerian. If the party’s NEC had limited itself to its desperate but unrealistic bid to unify the dilapidating structures of a deeply divided political party, which the PDP has become, that communique would have attracted better attention.
“The absurdity and the manner in which the NEC members exhibited pretentious insensitivity to the tragic consequences of their party’s 16 years of misrule resonate with the role the PDP played to hinder the growth and development of the Nigerian state.
“A political party that plundered Nigeria’s hard-earned resources and brutally squandered its national patrimony for those lengthy years is expected to display remorse and responsibility on matters of economic revitalization and statecraft.
“Who will easily forget the ring-fencing of hundreds of state-owned companies and investments through an opaque privatisation process, the massive diversion of oil revenue into private foreign bank accounts, as well as the unconscionable sale and concession of the Nigerian power sector to unqualified and incompetent proxy companies.
“How about the loss of public funds under an alleged doubtful and dubious petrol subsidy regime, the deliberate neglect and abandonment of public infrastructure in the face of huge revenue earnings and allocations, and the flagrant disregard for the ethics of social democracy and the rule of law under the direct supervision of three PDP administrations? All these brought the nation down on its knees and unleashed poverty and economic misery on Nigerians.
“This litany of PDP’s failures and unprecedented maladministration will remain evergreen in our collective memory as a people. So it is egregiously ridiculous that PDP NEC members will cast aspersions on President Bola Tinubu’s highly performing economic team and ask him to reverse his impressively successful economic policies. ”
The group also used the opportunity to provide some insight into the gains of the Tinubu administration in the last few months.
“In less than a year of inception, the President’s economic team has pushed through policies that have led to increased revenue accruals into the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), a better economic outlook and increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projection, a more stable naira against other currencies, and increased foreign exchange inflows into the country.
“The prevailing security situation in the country is a testimony to how well the President has performed in ensuring the security of lives and properties since he came to power.
“The safe rescue of 137 schoolchildren who were kidnapped at Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State without payment of ransom and the decline in the rate of insurgency, banditry, and kidnappings on the highways, particularly in the north, further showcase the outstanding achievements of President Bola Tinubu in the area of national security.
“We therefore urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his economic team to remain focused and refuse to be distracted by the PDP shenanigans.
“Only the ongoing task of laying the solid foundation for genuine economic growth and political stability in Nigeria is worth your attention.”
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