Secondus: Buhari Celebrating His Last Democracy Day as President

Democracy Day broadcast uninspiring, full of false claims, says PDP
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has predicted that President Muhammadu Buhari celebrated his last Democracy Day in office yesterday.

Secondus said Nigerians cannot afford him further if the country’s democracy and nation are to survive.
He made this remark in a Democracy Day prayer wish to Nigerians adding that never gain would a non-democrat be given access to power like President Buhari to put the country in such jeopardy.

According to the PDP national chairman through a statement from his media office and signed by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, Nigerians are anxiously looking forward to the opportunity to dispense with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and the President.

The PDP boss said he was sympathising with Nigerians for finding themselves in such horrible situation where a day they should be celebrating freedom and good governance, they are instead burying their innocent ones and groaning in the avoidable hardship.

He charged Nigerians to take their destiny and swear never to pass the APC root again by collecting and properly using their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) to save democracy and indeed save Nigeria.
“If democracy must survive in our country we must do away with APC and Nigerians are ready and willing to do just that because they cherish democracy as the best form of government.

“Going by their poor record of performance in the last 36 months, and the determination of Nigerians to put the country in the right footing, this is the last Democracy Day this president will mark
“Their agenda now is to intimidate,  harass and scare opponents to create a Police state with the aim of turning the country into  one party state but it must be resisted by Nigerians who passed similar road before and came out victorious.
“The next Democracy Day, May 29, 2019 which Nigerians and indeed all lovers of democracy are anxiously looking forward to would be the smooth transition from confusion and purposeless governance to real democracy which the PDP is returning to gift to the nation
Secondus said the democracy PDP established and nurtured for 16 years has been bacterised and grossly undermined by the intolerant and drifting APC administration in the last three years.

Finally, Secondus called on the international community to show more than passing interest in the events leading to Nigeria’s general election in 2019 as the APC rigging strategy has already started through intimidation and harassment of political opponents across the country.

Meanwhile, the PDP has described the Democracy Day broadcast by President Buhari as uninspiring, hollow and failing to address issues agitating the minds of Nigerians.
The opposition party termed yesterday’s speech was the worst since Buhari took office in 2015, saying it was garnished with a list of phantom projects and executive regurgitations, inherently designed by his handlers to sway Nigerians and divert attention from the many failures of this administration.
In a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said the president failed to show the littlest empathy to millions of citizens groaning under the worst form of poverty, starvation and economic hardship occasioned by his misrule.

According to the PDP,  Buhari’s aloofness to the plight of Nigerians was manifest in all the lines of the speech.
“In fact, no line in the supposed Democracy Day address had any inclination towards justice for victims of abuse of human rights, reported executive high-handedness, illegal arrests and detentions, extra-judicial executions as well as victims of killings and daily bloodletting in Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Kaduna,Plateau, Borno, Kogi, Yobe and other parts of the country, by insurgents and marauders,” it said.

PDP further said the president’s speech gave no assurance on the issue violation of our constitution, assault on the National Assembly and erosion of personal freedom of citizens.
Also, PDP expressed concern that the president could not say anything on what it described as “the humonguous corruption going on under his administration, where APC leaders and cabal at the presidency have stolen over N10 trillion, mainly from a sector under his direct supervision.”

PDP also noted that the president gave no commitment towards the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in 2019.
“Incredibly, Mr. President’s handlers chose to subject him to a fantasy trip, making false performance claims with phantom projects, muddling up economic statistics and ended up worsening his already diminished public perception.
“This is exactly why the PDP had earlier advised President Buhari not to bother to address Nigerians on Democracy Day,” it said.
An infuriated PDP said Nigerians had reached a consensus that the 2018 Democracy Day celebration was the last for the Buhari presidency and the APC.
“Our citizens have endured under the misrule of the APC, keeping their hopes in the 2019 elections to get back our democracy on the platform of the repositioned PDP,” it said.