The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the New Year speech by President Bola Tinubu as a “harvest of deceit, false claims and empty promises.” The opposition party said the speech was mere bland rhetoric where concrete actions are needed to douse biting hardship nationwide.
President Tinubu, in his New Year address to Nigerians yesterday, affirmed that Nigerians are frustrated because of the removal of fuel subsidy and the Naira devaluation.
He said: “I am not oblivious to the expressed and sometimes unexpressed frustrations of my fellow citizens. I know for a fact that some of our compatriots are even asking if this is how our administration wants to renew their hope. Over the past seven months of our administration, I have taken some difficult and yet necessary decisions to save our country from fiscal catastrophe.”
The President, however, announced plans to provide Nigerians with reliable power supply, as well as petroleum products. According to him, his administration is working hard to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
He called on Nigerians to be patient with him, adding that his government is working towards solving all issues around the socio-economic situation through his ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’.
Reacting, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, described Tinubu’s speech as uninspiring and amounts to a waste of valuable time, as “it did not address any of the critical issues plaguing the nation”.
“Nigerians were dismayed as President Tinubu employed rhetoric and failed to address the critical issues of insecurity, decayed infrastructure, comatose manufacturing, and productive sectors; crushing 28 per cent inflation rate, continuing plunge of the Naira, alarming unemployment, excruciating poverty and economic hardship occasioned by the reckless, ill-advised and insensitive policies and programmes of his administration,” the opposition party stated.
Continuing, PDP said: “President Tinubu failed to address the vexatious issue of incompetence, insensitivity, massive profligacy, unbridled treasury-looting inherent in his administration, which have put our nation in dire straits.
“More distressing is that President Tinubu had no words in his New Year address for the Christmas eve genocidal massacre of over 200 Nigerians by terrorists in Plateau State and the murder of over 5,000 citizens in Plateau and other states of the federation under his watch since May 29, 2023. What manner of a President!”
According to the PDP, “it is an unpardonable assault on the sensibility of Nigerians for President Tinubu to brazenly assert that ‘everything I have done in office, every decision I have taken and every trip I have undertaken outside the shores of our land, since I assumed office on 29 May 2023, have been done in the best interest of our country.’”
The party claimed that on the contrary, all decisions and actions of the Tinubu presidency, including “the approval of increase in the pump price of fuel from N167 to over N700 per litre, devaluation of the naira with the consequential high costs and hardship; skewing of the 2024 budget in favour of luxury appetite of the Presidency and APC leaders without concrete policies to revive the economy and create jobs; the wasteful foreign trips with political cronies and failure to address the mindless killings across the nation cannot be said to be in the interest of our country.
“Furthermore, the undermining of the Constitution and institutions of democracy including attempts to emasculate the National Assembly and compromising of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through the appointment of APC card-carrying members as Resident Electoral Commissioners cannot be in the interest of the nation,” the statement stressed.
It asked President Tinubu to provide a comprehensive account of our nation’s earnings including the proceeds from the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, especially in the face of allegations that the earnings are being diverted to private pockets of APC leaders and their cronies.
In like manner, a former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani, also described the President’s New Year speech as “a native doctor’s words of hope to a sick person”.
Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the eighth Assembly, noted that the President did not set any time for any of the promises to take effect.
He said: “The President’s speech is good and encouraging. It gives the kind of hope raised by native doctors; that you will be delivered from your sickness but no date.”
Similarly, former presidential aide and social media commentator, Reno Omokri, who has stoked support for the Tinubu presidency with his commentary on national issues, yesterday criticised the broadcast, saying what was missing from President Tinubu’s New Year’s speech was sacrifice.
“Yes, he admitted that the economy was tottering when he took over on May 29, 2023, and he has had to make difficult decisions that have been telling on the Nigerian people and has resulted in an inflation rate of 28 per cent. But where is his own sacrifice? And that of his government?
“It is not enough for him to ask us to play our parts. We must first see that the government is living up to its commitments. When a country faces economic challenges, the leadership cannot expect the people to make sacrifices without first making them.
“What I expected to hear from the president was, for example, that: All jets in the Presidential Air Fleet have been sold except two. All foreign travel by public and civil servants have been embargoed, except where they are strictly in the national interest, and must first be approved by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, if they are civilians, or the National Security Adviser, if they are military and paramilitary personnel.
“All Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government are hereby directed to purchase made-in-Nigeria goods and services exclusively, and it will be a dismissible offence for any MDA to patronise a foreign good or service where there is a Nigerian alternative. The Legislature and Judiciary are advised to take the same course.
“Forthwith, the Federal Government shall not participate in sponsoring, subsidising, or supporting pilgrimages, whether by Muslim or Christian pilgrims. Religion and pilgrimages are a personal exercise, and the only role the government shall play is to regulate the processes to make them orderly.
“All military and police personnel performing non-essential duties, as well as those who retired in the last 10 years, are hereby recalled to active duty and shall be sent to Plateau, Zamfara, Niger, Benue and other security hotspots to end the carnage in those places and ensure that there is security of life and property for all Nigerians.
“Finally, the Federal Government, under my leadership, shall operate under a low profile, and any overt or covert acts of exhibition of wealth are not to be tolerated and shall be met with punitive measures.
“If the President’s New Year’s message had taken steps along the lines above, then he would have become a national hero and disarmed all his political opponents, as well as mobilised the nation behind him. But it is not too late. It is not too late,” he stated.
HOWEVER, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has commended the Federal Government on its commitment to power projects, including the Siemens Energy initiative. The Chamber, in its reaction to President Tinubu’s speech, signed by its Director General, Dr. Chinyere Almona, also lauded the present administration on its efforts at enhancing the reliability of transmission lines.
It is described as positive, the step taking towards addressing the critical issue of electricity supply, which, it noted, aligns with its aspirations for a robust and diversified economy. The representative of the business community however stressed the urgent need for the federal government to address the structure of the power sector, by bringing private sector investment into the transmission.
This, it added, would ensure adequate technical and financial capacity for a well-functioning sector to power economic growth. “The Chamber carefully reviewed the President’s speech as he highlighted vital aspects of his administration’s achievements and challenges faced and outlined plans to address these critical concerns.
“The LCCI has identified positive and concerning elements from the address to foster constructive dialogue and provide a comprehensive analysis.
“The Government needs to consider bringing private sector investment into the transmission segment of the power sector. This would ensure adequate technical and financial capacity for a well-functioning sector to power economic growth,” it stated.
The business advocacy body noted that while the government’s focus on cultivating farmlands to grow staple crops and boost food security, aligns with the need to ensure constant food supply, security, and affordability for citizens, it however cautioned that the productivity of the farmlands and the effectiveness of investments in food production are subject to adequate security measures.
”Investment in agriculture has a limited chance of success as long as the government fails to deal with the security issues,” it stated.The Chamber therefore called on the government to consider fast-tracking the movement of the police from the Exclusive list to the Concurrent list to be legislated upon by the Federal and State Governments.
This, it argued, would guarantee effective policing of the nooks and crannies of the society, particularly the farmlands. It also described the announcement of a new national living wage as a positive step towards ensuring the well-being of workers and promoting inclusive economic growth.
The body also expressed delight at the assurance of the federal government to simplify fiscal and tax policies, which it argued would go a long way in removing obstacles hindering business competitiveness.
On the issue of fuel subsidy removal, the body noted that while such action had become imperative, government must develop a plan, aimed at managing its impact on individuals, families, and businesses.
