The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the 2021 New year speech by President Muhammadu Buhari as empty and directionless, arguing it confirmed that the nation had become leaderless.
The PDP in a statement on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the president’s speech underscored the urgent need for compatriots to come together and salvage the nation which it said was fast heading to a failed state.
The opposition party said the least Nigerians expected from Mr. President, in the new year, was a decisive will to tackle the security challenges by reviewing his parade and heeding the demands by Nigerians to rejig the nation’s security architecture.
The PDP said it was appalling that on New Year day, all that President Buhari could offer “a troubled and frustrated nation” was a regurgitated script allegedly full of lame excuses and empty promises that address nothing.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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,” the party said.
