By Ifeanyi Ochonogor
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has characterized the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day broadcast as an insult on the psyche of Nigerians and a mockery of Nigeria’s national integrity as an independent state.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party says the speech was completely unpresidential; lacking in patriotic stance and replete with manifest inconsistencies, contradictions, paradoxes and false performance claims, which further confirm that Nigeria is in wrong hands.
The PDP noted that President Buhari, in his recorded address, failed to forcefully address the key issues of freedom, social justice, constitutional order, separation of powers, rule of law, human rights, credible elections, national cohesion, accountability and transparency in government; the very fundamentals of an independent state, because his administration had violated them all.
The party regretted that President Buhari had no forceful reassurances on the challenge of escalated insecurity under his watch; he had no clear-cut and operable blueprint to revamp Nigeria’s economy, which his administration wrecked in a period of four years, resulting in so much hardship and despondency that Nigerians now resort to suicide and slavery abroad as options.
The party said that this address has further exposed that the Buhari Presidency is not interested in nation building; that it is completely disconnected from the people and remains insensitive to the plights of citizens.
The PDP stated that if anything, President Buhari only succeeded in further demonstrating that his administration is, indeed, in no position to deliver a credible, acceptable and satisfactory independence address.
“This is so because under the Buhari Presidency, our nation has experienced the worst form of division, deprivation, human right abuse, constitutional violations, disregard to rule of law, electoral malpractices, disobedience to court order, disrespect for separation of powers and curtailing of press freedom,” the party added.
The PDP further lamented that due to the incompetence and legitimacy challenges confronting the Buhari Presidency, the nation was losing her voice and due regard in the international arena; as the administration has remained lacking in the required capacity and boldness to forcefully engage other world leaders on critical issues.
“The dearth in foreign direct investment and the inhuman treatments being meted out on our citizens in countries where we were once held in very high esteem, are some of the injuries our nation is suffering under the Buhari administration,” the party explained.
The party described as depressing that while other leaders motivate their citizens on a day like this, President Buhari is presenting uninspiring claims, propaganda and empty promises.
The PDP however urged Nigerians not to despair but keep hope alive as they collectively await the Supreme Court to deliver justice and retrieve their stolen Presidential mandate, so that the nation will have a leadership that it truly deserves at this point in its national history.
