The Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party, has said that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, set the stage for the national economic setback of the nation and must take responsibility for his actions.
The PDP campaign recalled how Tinubu led a campaign against the introduction of gradual removal of fuel subsidy which had accompanied palliatives that was cushioning the effects of subsidy on Nigerians.
Accusing the presidential candidate of the APC through a statement signed by the spokesperson for the campaign, Kola Ologbondiyan on Saturday, also recalled that Tinubu reportedly engineered and masterminded the increase in the subsidy payment by the President Major-General Muhammadu Buharis (retd.) administration without evidence of corresponding increase in the volume of fuel consumed by Nigerians.
Ologbondiyan said, “The APC presidential candidate has looked the other way on the problematic crude oil theft in which our nation loses more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil amounting to over N23 billion naira every day and a staggering yearly N6trillion, higher than the federal capital budget for 2023.
“Our campaign is already aware that Nigerians know the fact that Tinubu is not worried about fuel and new naira notes scarcity but concerned that the situation was affecting his life ambition of turning Nigeria into his economic empire and fiefdom.
“If Tinubu was ever concerned about Nigerians, what effort did he make to get the government, where he is the national leader, to address the worsening economy, the abysmal living standard and our national descent as one of the fastest growing economies of the world under the PDP, to the poverty capital of the world under his APC?
“It is on record that under this government, which he brought into power and made many appointments into, inflation and unemployment have galloped; millions of Nigerians have lost their jobs and many more can no longer afford their daily meals due to the astronomical cost of living. What were the consoling words of Tinubu to Nigerians?”
The PDP further accused the APC and the sitting government of being responsible for Nigerians committing suicide by jumping into the lagoon out of frustration, while others were forced into slavery mission abroad
The statement also noted that “It is appalling that due to the harsh and anti-people economic policies engineered by Tinubu and the government he installed, the naira has lost value under this administration from N199 to a dollar to N760, which contributed to rising costs and forced several businesses to shut down.
“How can Tinubu posture as if he has concern for Nigerians whereas in the almost eight years when banditry, kidnapping and acts of terrorism in the north and other parts of the country went on unchecked with mindless killings, maiming and wanton destruction of public and private property, he had nothing to say. Only yesterday, a judiciary officer was shot in his chambers in Imo State. Why is Tinubu unconcerned about all these?
“Under the administration that Tinubu, by his own words, installed, Nigerias debt has recorded an astronomical rise to N77 trillion even with allegations that the borrowed funds are being diverted to APC interests. When will Tinubu be concerned about this national malaise?”
However, responding to the accusations, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC presidential campaign, Bayo Onanuga in a chat with The PUNCH on Saturday, said that it was normal for the PDP spokesperson to make accusations without any scintilla of proof.
He stated, “Anyone who knows Tinubu in and out of office will agree that he is a compassionate leader, who will never be involved in any anti-people policies.
“One of his dreams is to re-engineer our economy to continue to be not just Africas biggest, but one of the top economies in the world, tapping the rich human talents we have in Nigerians at home and in diaspora. He did it in Lagos, growing the economy to be Africas fifth largest and Lagos is even now poised to grow higher with the iconic projects springing up in the Lekki corridor.
“To show his compassion, he started paying WASCCE fees for the poor. He ensured that the plan to increase fees in LASU was aborted. He is the complete opposite of the PDP candidate who along with his boss allowed our universities to suffer while they set up their own universities for children of the rich,” he stated.
Source: The Punch
