COVID-19 Lockdown: PDP Says Buhari’s Govt, A Failure, Presidency Kicks

By Akinwale Kasali

Angered by the statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was  bent on disorganizing the progress made so far by the present administration, labeling the PDP as a disorganized Party of mischief makers, the PDP has dismissed the Buhari Government as a failure.

Shehu, in the Statement had said : “They (PDP) questioned the bravery of our soldiers and spread false rumours that their preferred foreign leader had routed out insurgents on the Nigerian soil, and freed Nigerian territories and soldiers held captive by terrorists in the northern part of Borno State.

“PDP’s corruption and ineptitude allowed Boko Haram to capture  18 local governments  and caused  millions to relocate. Nigerians have not forgotten, and are waiting for them in 2023.

“For a political party that led Nigeria for 16 years pursuing wrong policies and strategies that destroyed not only the armed forces but have destroyed the nation and its economy, there won’t be much from them to shock the citizens when they say that they see nothing good in the enormously successful war that the Buhari administration has waged against the COVID-19 global pandemic”, Shehu stated.

But reacting to Shehu’s statement, the PDP  dismissed  the President Buhari administration as a failure.

In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, the party  said rather than  listening to Nigerians, shed its corruption and take urgent steps to address the issue of panacea being raised by poor masses whose means of livelihood have been crippled by the restriction order, the Buhari Presidency chose to spew vituperations against the PDP just to divert public attention from its failure.

The statement added that the PDP’s position on Mr. President’s speech completely embodies the feeling and mood of Nigerians across board, as national commentaries have shown, and what Nigerians expected was for Mr. President to accept his lapses and immediately take steps to address the issue of palliatives.

“For the avoidance of doubt, all that the PDP has done, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in our country, is to counsel the Buhari Presidency like other Nigerians, on how to safeguard our nation from the pandemic, most of which were largely ignored.

“From the moment that the index case was established, our party had continued to advice Mr. President on how to manage the situation. The PDP had also consistently requested of Mr. President to provide economic palliative that will help the country manage the fall out of the pandemic.

‘All that our party had done had been in the best interest of Nigerians and the good governance of our nation. We believe that this is the duty which PDP owes Nigerians at this critical time.

“The PDP therefore urges the Buhari Presidency to desist from this attempt to politicize the COVID-19 effort and take urgent steps to address the concerns being expressed by our party and majority of Nigerians in the overall determination to check the spread of the pandemic in our country”, the PDP concluded.