Nigeria’s leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cried out over the state of the nation, telling President Muhammadu Buhari that the country is collapsing on his watch, just as it is demanding urgent action to restore unity and order.
Expressed deep concerns over rising sectional disagreements and violent conflicts in various parts of the country, the PDP observed that the conflicts are being exacerbated by “the insensitive, divisive and parochial approach to governance by the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.”
The party, in a statement by its National Spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, lamented the escalated sectional conflicts in various parts of the country; the bloody ethnic clashes currently raging in Ibadan, Oyo State, in addition to similar clashes recorded in Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano and other states of the federation.
The PDP called on President Muhammadu Buhari to note that “the once cohesive and economically thriving nation handed over to him in 2015 is fast collapsing in his hands, due to his failure to effectively manage the economy, inability to administer the complex political and sectional nuances of the nation, as well as manifest lack of capacity to confront terrorists, bandits and kidnappers ravaging our country.”
The PDP described as sad that “under the anti-democratic and anti-people proclivities” of the Buhari-led APC administration, the once-thriving country has come under grave tension, to the extent that citizens have become nervous, agitated, lost faith in the polity, with individuals, communities, states and geo-political zones resorting to self-determination as a way of survival.
“It is, indeed, distressing that the Buhari administration cannot handle the fundamental responsibility of government: to guarantee the security, safety of citizens, as well as ensure peaceful co-existence and stability of the nation.
“From Lagos to Borno, Oyo to Ebonyi, Imo to Katsina, Plateau to Osun, Benue to Kano; indeed across our nation, the tension is palpable. Nigerians are losing confidence in the government. The corporate existence of our nation, which patriotic citizens have been labouring for, is now being threatened,” the statement stressed.
The PDP urged President Buhari to wake up and end APC administration’s divisive tendencies, and without further delay, take urgent steps to guarantee peaceful co-existence in the country by ensuring strict adherence to extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, especially regarding the federal structure and sensibilities. While calling for calm and vigilance, the party charged President Buhari to take steps to unite the nation by ensuring justice in the face of infractions against our federal sensibilities as a people.
The PDP stressed that the nation is already distressed by unbridled violence, wanton killings and bloodletting by terrorists, bandits and, kidnappers.