Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has berated the Buhari Presidency for its arrogance and insulting response to Nigerians who criticized its failures in the handling of insurgency as well as the governance of nation.
The party said it is shocking that rather than being penitent and responsive to the views of the citizens, the Presidency has resorted to abusing majority of Nigerians, who had put their trust and confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari, but today, are expressing disappointment with the fact that his administration has failed abysmally.
In a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said “the question Nigerians are asking is whether the President’s declaration in London, that marauders ravaging our people are deserters from Libya, is about semantics.
“Nigerians hold the Buhari Presidency directly to the handling of security challenges vis-a-vis his 2015 campaign promise to oust insurgency in our country.
“Rather than offering explanations, the Buhari Presidency, in the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s usual arrogance and disdain, opted to insult Nigerians, including federal legislators as well the institution of the National Assembly.
“But Nigerians are still demanding for answers. If the Buhari administration knew, in the course of the last three years, that the nation has been invaded by forces from outside or even deserters from Libya, why has it continued to admonish Nigerians to learn to live with their neighbours?
“If in the course of investigations, it (Buhari Presidency) discovered that the insurgents were from outside Nigeria, why is the government reportedly paying ransoms to them and even considering amnesty options? Is it part of governance to pay ransom to invaders? These are the questions that Nigerians expect the Buhari Presidency to answer.
“It is therefore a misplaced reaction for any member of the Buhari presidency to recourse to personal insults, diatribes and invectives against Nigerians, low or high, who had expressed his view or demanded some explanations in the government’s handling of the insurgency challenge.
“The simplest expectation of Nigerians is for the Buhari Presidency to be alive to its responsibility by strategically responding to the pains, suffering and lethal starvation it has caused the entire citizenry in the last three years.â€
“These attributes of arrogance, name calling and intolerance to views as well as disdain for Nigerians by the Buhari administration must stop.
“Furthermore, it is ridiculous that the Buhari Presidency is whining and alleging that President Buhari is being de-marketed ahead of the 2019 election, when the facts of the failures of his administration, including the daily bloodletting and suffering under his watch, speak for themselves.
“The Buhari Presidency ought to know that the London Declaration was an explicit admission of failure by our Commander-in-Chief. After his declaration, would it be wrong for anybody to state that the President had admitted that our nation is now under the mercy of external vandals and that his administration does not have the competence to defend our territorial integrity?
“For us in the PDP, being the party rallying the overwhelming majority of Nigerians today, we have a responsibility to stand with the citizens, irrespective of class, creed or ethnicity to hold this failed APC administration accountable for its promises and we will continue to put it out glaringly to them ahead of their electoral disgrace in 2019.
“Nigerians deserve a return to the administration of a political party that is repositioned to be responsible, accountable, transparent and respect the views and feeling of the people and not this arrogant, disdainful and grossly incompetent Buhari-led APC administration, which has brought so much pain to our dear nationâ€, the statement added.
