PDP Accuses APC Of Politicising Protests Against Economic Hardship, Calls For Urgent Action

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for attempting to politicize the recent protests against economic hardship and insecurity under the Bola Tinubu administration.

In a statement on Tuesday, PDP accused the APC of being insensitive to the difficulties faced by Nigerians.

The opposition party stated that citizens have a democratic and constitutional right to protest peacefully against a government that fails to address their needs.

Speaking through its spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP was responding to APC’s earlier claim that the protests held in Niger and Kano States were sponsored by opposition parties.

Ologunagba said, “The action of the APC in threatening Nigerians for exercising their democratic and Constitutional right to protest in the face of misrule, agonizing poverty, hunger, killings and other harrowing experiences under the Tinubu administration shows that the APC is insensitive and relishes the life-discounting situation in the country.

“This approach by the APC, instead of listening to the people, is not only offensive but akin to pushing Nigerians to the wall and daring them to do their worst.

“It is an assault on the sensibility of the people that rather than providing answers to how the Tinubu-led APC government in a space of nine months, turned the nation’s economy upside down leading to terrifying food scarcity and catastrophic high cost of living, the APC is seeking to label and clamp down on the suffering masses.

“The APC is insensitive to the fact that because of its policies more than 104 million citizens have sunk deeper into poverty; Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals with families now going to bed on empty stomach as poverty rate soars to over 46%.”

Furthermore, the PDP blamed abrupt economic policies implemented by the Tinubu administration for rising inflation, depreciating value of the Naira, business closures, and distressing unemployment rate.

“Any government that has an idea of macro-economic policy management ought to have recognized that the suffocating policies of abrupt increase in the pump price of petroleum products, high cost of electricity and arbitrary floating of the Naira as executed by the Tinubu administration without due considerations, would have excruciating consequences to the economy as being witnessed today.

“These thoughtless policies by President Tinubu and the APC are responsible for the crippling of the productive sector with 28% inflation rate, crashing of the Naira from N167 to over N1,500 to a Dollar, closure of millions of businesses and mass exodus of international companies from Nigeria resulting to a distressing 41% unemployment rate and unbearable pressure on millions of families across the country.

“Today, Nigerians are resorting to suicide while thousands of our promising youths are leaving the country in droves.

“Is it not provocative that in the last eight years and nine months, instead of deploying the nation’s resources for the improvement of critical infrastructure and the productive sectors, Nigerians have witnessed massive looting of over N20 trillion by APC leaders and its officials in government through direct pillaging of government vaults, budget padding, contract inflation, oil subsidy scam, palliative racketeering and phony programmes which have no benefit and consequence to the lives of the citizens?,” the statement added.

The party called for concrete action and policies to address worsening insecurity in the country, saying: “Since President Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023 no fewer than 5000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists apparently emboldened by the laidback attitude and body language of Mr. President who has failed to show seriousness on issues of security or empathy to victims either by words or action. It is sad that in all of these, President Tinubu is missing in action as he holidays in France at the expense of the Nigerian treasury.”