…Says It Fails To Address Salient Palliative Issues
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s yesterday’s nationwide broadcast as disappointing as it failed to address the issue of palliative measures that could reduce the hardship Nigerians are passing through as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.
The party also cautioned the officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government to stop using the COVID-19 pandemic as a gateway for corrupt profiteering and looting of the national treasury.
The party said that the speech, just like the pre-recorded broadcast of March 29, 2020, failed to address salient issues of urgent concerns to Nigerians in their daily struggle against the spread of the plague in the country.
The party expressed sadness that the President has again failed to show leadership and displayed total lack of touch with reality as he failed to give any hope on palliatives to the ordinary Nigerians as they face hunger and economic pangs of the lockdown.
According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, and made available to Global Upfront newspapers, the party said that it is more painful that President Buhari could not address the immediate needs of the people or provide a trajectory that will take care of their future.
“Nigerians expected Mr. President to directly address the established failures of his palliatives distribution, particularly the provision of funds to the poorest of the poor, which has been marred by allegations of corruption and diversion of funds. This is in addition to allegations of diversion of rice and other food items meant for the poor masses.”
“Can Mr. President claim not to be aware that not a handful of Nigerians have received any palliatives and that huge majority of our citizens are complaining that they have not been reached with any panacea despite his administration’s claim of having reached 2.6 million household?”
According to the main opposition party, announcing the expansion of the palliative scope to 3.6 million households without addressing the failure of the scheme and with no parameter to showcase the declared expansion is an encouragement of the corrupt system that has been depriving Nigerians.
The PDP challenged the president to disprove Nigerians by publishing documents showing the beneficiaries of the claimed 2.6 million household social intervention, the benefiting communities as well as the parameters that will be deployed for the additional one million household.
