The Peoples Democratic Party’s platform, which called for President Bola Tinubu’s resignation due to the ongoing economic hardship and depreciation of the naira, was confronted by the federal government and the ruling All Progressives Congress on Sunday.
The ruling party also criticized the governors for claiming that Nigeria, under the APC’s leadership, was nearly headed toward Venezuelan similarities.
Under the direction of Bala Mohammed, the governor of Bauchi State, the PDP governors stated last week that Tinubu was nearly certain to turn Nigeria into Venezuela.
The nation in South America is currently dealing with a wide range of issues, including high unemployment rates, business closures, shortages of food and medicine, and corruption.
On Saturday, the PDP governors counseled Tinubu and the ruling APC to step down from their positions in the national assembly if they were unable to offer long-term solutions.
In response, Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, attacked the PDP governors for trying to divert attention away from people who are committed to realizing President Tinubu’s visions.
“The call is nothing but an attempt at distraction by people who should instead be busy supporting the President’s efforts to bring economic relief to the Nigerian people,” Idris said in a statement released on Sunday and signed by his media assistant, Rabiu Ibrahim. We firmly believe that the PDP and its governors shouldn’t be using intimidation as a cover for what they have continuously failed to accomplish through democratic channels since 2015.
“People who were unable to effect profound change during extended opportunities ought not to attempt to disturb or divert attention from those who are occupied with carrying out the presidential agenda that Nigerian voters selected them to execute.”
“The administration of President Bola Tinubu has also, since inception, generously extended financial support to all the State Governments, regardless of partisan affiliation,” the minister said, outlining the current administration’s agenda. Furthermore, the elimination of the gasoline subsidy has increased the revenues of all States, including the PDP States. It should be noted that this was one of the primary tenets of the PDP presidential campaign. More is therefore expected of those to whom more has been given.
“The President and his administration acknowledge that there is still work to be done to revitalize the national economy that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration launched. These efforts will center on large-scale infrastructure, social welfare, the prioritization of the welfare and equipment of the armed forces and security agencies, and the restoration of Nigeria’s strategic standing among other countries. After being on the rise in 2014 and 2015, Boko Haram and its allies have since been destroyed, and bandits and other criminals are currently making similarly audacious gains.
According to Idris, the ruling APC had “cleared several liabilities left behind by the PDP government, including unpaid pensions, gratuities, and salary arrears owed various categories of pensioners from liquidated and existing state-owned enterprises, as well as subsidy claims by oil marketers and Paris Club Refunds.”
“The very real and ongoing legacies of the ruling All Progressives Congress are the major oil sector reforms, such as the PIB’s passage and the renovation of existing refineries, that the PDP had long pushed but failed to deliver.
“We have to keep stating these facts so that Nigerians understand our perspective and can fully appreciate the context of what we are doing.”
In response, Felix Morka, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, said that while he can’t hold anyone accountable for their opinions, it would be incorrect to urge the President to give up on “idle spectators.”
Morka emphasised that rather than mocking the governors’ ideas or solutions to governance challenges, a federal system such as Nigeria’s operates on the principle of shared, constitutionally delineated responsibilities among the three government tiers.
He declared, “In a statement released yesterday, governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, basking in willful blindness to their constitutional responsibilities, advised President Bola Tinubu to ‘throw in the towel’ if he can no longer govern Nigeria.” Now, this repugnant executive flippancy serves as a badge of identification for these apathetic yet ruthlessly complicit observers of their states’ and citizens’ affairs.
Governors are entitled to free speech just like any other citizen. But in order to use that right, one must measure it against a reasonable and respectable standard. It is important to refrain from making careless remarks that could stoke racial tensions and social unrest. Even in the current difficult economic and security contexts of Nigeria, the PDP governors’ comparison of the country to Venezuela is unhelpful and reeks of unjustified indignation.
Morka bemoaned the PDP governors, calling them little more than apathetic acolytes who seldom lived up to their words.
Thus, he implored Nigerians to set aside their outbursts and show some patience while the president works to improve the nation.
“The state’s money ends at the governors’ table, just as the federal money ends at the President’s table. The PDP governors’ demand that the President give up is nothing less than self-incriminating. It is abhorrent that the same governors who have consistently dispossessed local government administrations of federally apportioned funds and stifled them with massive federal allocations to their states are now talking about buck.
“In this momentous season of profound and long-lasting economic transformation in our nation, President Bola Tinubu is assuming responsibility and demonstrating strong leadership. Bold and comprehensive reforms that the administration has started are essential to prosperity, long-term growth, and economic recovery. The administration is resolute in its efforts to alleviate the temporary yet agonizing struggles that our people are facing as these policies start to produce the intended outcomes.
“Nigerians should have access to the most basic social and economic amenities and be able to live in peace and security.” He said, “During these trying times, our Party and administration ask for your patience as our country soars unabatedly toward stronger foundations and a more prosperous future.”
