A pro-democracy group, The Democratic Front (TDF) has said that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) can not tell President Bola Ahmed Tinubu what to do on the nation’s economy having plunged it into ruins for good sixteen years.
In a statement on Sunday in Abuja, jointly signed by its Chairman Danjuma Mohammed and Secretary Wale Adedayo while reacting to the communique issued by PDP at the end of it National Executive Committee meeting, the TDF argued that the country has still not recovered from the mindless plundering of the economy in the PDP years.
“Imagine a political party that failed woefully and landed the country in its present parlous economic state now pontificating on efforts to revitalize the national economy as if they ever had any clue.
“Rather than bury their heads in shame because of the roles the former ruling party played in bringing the country to its knees, they are busy pontificating on the bold initiatives and reforms being initiated by President Bola Tinubu.”
According to the pro-democracy group, the position of the PDP calls for outright condemnation and repudiation by every well-meaning Nigerian.
“If the party’s NEC had limited itself to its desperate but unrealistic bid to unify the dilapidating structures of a deeply divided political party, which the PDP has become, that communique would have attracted better attention.
“The absurdity and the manner the NEC members exhibited pretentious insensitivity to the tragic consequences of their Party’s 16 years of misrule resonates the role PDP played to hinder the growth and development of the Nigerian state.
“A political party which plundered Nigeria’s hard earned resources and brutally squandered its national patrimony for those lenghty years is expected to display remorse and responsibility on matters of economic revitalization and statecraft.
“Who will easily forget the ring-fencing of hundreds of state-owned companies and investments through an opaque privatization process, the massive diversion of oil revenue into private foreign bank accounts as well as the unconscionable sale and concession of the Nigeria power sector to unqualified and incompetent proxy companies.
“How about the loss of public funds under an alleged doubtful and dubious petrol subsidy regime, the deliberate neglect and abandonment of public infrastructure in the face of huge revenue earnings and allocations, and the flagrant disregard for the ethics of social democracy and the rule of law under the direct supervision of three PDP administrations? All these brought the nation down on its knees and unleashed poverty and economic misery on Nigerians.
“This litany of PDP’s failures and unprecedented maladministration will remain evergreen in our collective memory as a people. So it is egregiously ridiculous that PDP NEC members will cast aspersions on President Bola Tinubu highly performing economic team and asked him to reverse his impressively successful economic policies.
The group also used the opportunity to provide some insight into the gains of the Tinubu administration in the last few months.
“In less than a year of inception, the President’s economic team has pushed through policies that have led to increased revenue accruals into the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), better economic outlook and increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projection, a more stable naira against other currencies, increased foreign exchange inflows into the country.
“The prevailing security situation in the country is a testimony of how well the President has performed in ensuring the security of lives and properties since he came to power. The safe rescue of 137 school children that were kidnapped at Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State without payment of ransom, and the decline in the rate of insurgency, banditry, and kidnappings on the highways, particularly in the north, further showcases the outstanding achievements of President Bola Tinubu in the area of national security.
“We therefore urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his economic team to remain focused and refused to be distracted by the PDP shenanigans.
Only the ongoing task of laying the solid foundation for genuine economic growth and political stability in Nigeria is worth your attention,” it added.
