Your new year address empty, directionless, PDP tells Buhari

The opposition party says the new year address of President Muhammadu Buhari is empty and directionless.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stated this in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan Friday afternoon.

Mr Buhari had addressed Nigerians in the morning, saying his administration will improve on security, economy and anti-corruption war. Before the address, his spokesman, Femi Adesina, advised critics to wind down on criticising the president and hail him more in year 2021.

Mr Adesina added that should Nigerians heed the advise, it will force his principal to effectively carry out his constitutional duties as the president.

But the opposition party after perusing the president’s address concluded that it was aimlessly meaningless.

“As a President, President Buhari has not demonstrated the capacity to play his own part, as he claimed, having failed to find solution for the security and economic challenges that pervade our nation under his incompetent and lethargic watch,” the PDP said.

“The myriads of lame excuses in Mr. President’s address again underlines our national misfortune of a weak leadership that is unable to resolutely confront and vanquish bandits, terrorists, kidnappers and vandals who are now holding our nation hostage, ravaging our communities, kidnapping and beheading our compatriots without restrain.

“The least Nigerians expected from Mr. President, in the New Year, was a decisive will to tackle our security challenges by reviewing his parade and heeding the demands by Nigerians to rejig our nation’s security architecture.

“The situation at hand requires more than an armchair commander in chief who only dwells on excuses for manifest failures. President Buhari’s New Year address only points to the fact that our nation is in dire need of a leadership that is willing, able and ready to engage from the fronts.

“On the economy, Mr. President failed to articulate a definite economic recovery blueprint. He had no clear strategies to shore up the value of our naira, repay and end our foreign borrowings, revamp our external reserves, give hope to foreign investors, move promises of job creation from the perpetual drawing board and guarantee food security, health care among others.

“Mr. President had the opportunity to redeem his administration by taking steps that will address high costs of food, education and housing deficit; address the high price of fuel, multiple taxes and tariffs that bear pressure on businesses and families as well as how to enhance national productivity and grow our Gross Domestic Produce (GDP).

“In the same vein, our party finds it lamentable that President Buhari, in his reference to the demonstration by our youths, did not make any decisive pronouncement to end the on-going persecution of EndSARS protesters or order a Presidential inquest into the reported Lekki killing.

“Moreover, the failure by Mr. President to make direct commitment on budgetary provisions exposes a lack of will and direction, and shows that the next two years under the Buhari-led APC administration would leave our nation with forlorn hope.

“Nevertheless our party urges Nigerians not to despair but use the New Year to reinforce their bond of unity and continue to work together in their collective resolve to use opportunities offered by democracy to rescue our nation from misrule.

“The PDP prays that God will give compatriots the perseverance to outlive the pains of APC and President Buhari’s misrule as we work collectively for a new dawn,” it added.