ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s 2024 budget, denouncing it as a compilation of deceit, false claims, and empty promises.
The PDP expressed disappointment in Tinubu’s New Year address, deeming it unpresidential, uninspiring, and a waste of time, asserting that it failed to address critical issues facing the nation.
Similarly, the Labour Party (LP) joined the chorus of discontent, describing the president’s speech as lacking substance and expressing concern over its hollowness.
The party contended that many right-thinking Nigerians were dismayed by the address.
In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party highlighted the absence of solutions for pressing issues such as insecurity, dilapidated infrastructure, a dormant manufacturing sector, a 28 per cent inflation rate, the devaluation of the Naira, unemployment, poverty, and economic hardship in Tinubu’s speech.
The statement criticized Tinubu’s failure to address issues of incompetence, insensitivity, profligacy, and treasury looting in his administration, emphasizing the dire straits the nation finds itself in. The PDP condemned the president’s silence on recent tragic events, including the Christmas eve massacre in Plateau State.
READ ALSO: Unpaid Salaries: PDP Accuses Tinubu Of Turning Nigeria Into IDP Camp
Furthermore, the PDP disputed Tinubu’s claim that all his actions and decisions were in the best interest of the country, citing policies such as the fuel price hike, devaluation of the Naira, and skewed budget allocation favoring the presidency and APC leaders without concrete economic revival strategies.
The PDP asserted that Tinubu’s administration deliberately subjects Nigerians to hardship to suppress them into surrendering to totalitarianism. The party called for an apology to Nigerians and concrete steps to address national challenges.
The statement said, “Also, in stating that ‘from the boardrooms at Broad Street in Lagos to the main-streets of Kano and Nembe Creeks in Bayelsa, I hear the groans of Nigerians who work hard every day to provide for themselves and their families,’ Tinubu admitted that his administration had plunged Nigerians into pain, anguish and misery.
“President Tinubu ought to have used the opportunity presented by the New Year to apologise to Nigerians and marshal out steps to address our national challenges, including those responsible for the exiting of multinational manufacturing companies and other businesses from our country.”
The LP, in its reaction, described the speech as hypocritical and lacking empathy. It criticized the president’s failure to console the families affected by the Christmas Eve massacre in Plateau State and expressed disappointment in the lack of plans to address critical issues such as insecurity, collapsed infrastructure, manufacturing decline, inflation, and the Naira’s deteriorating exchange rate.
LP questioned the alleged massive looting by Tinubu’s appointees and party leaders, emphasizing the need for the National Assembly to uphold the constitution beyond party lines and ensure accountability.
In the statement, LP said, “How does his ill-advised decision on fuel subsidy removal without a plan to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians translate into an action taken in the national interest?
“Of what benefit was the millions of the nation’s dwindling foreign reserves frittered away under the guise of attending the climate change summit in Dubai to Nigerians?
“While we call for prayers for our nation in this critical point of our history, we will continue to call on the National Assembly to look beyond party lines and ensure that the spirit and the letter of our constitution is upheld at all times.”