The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Day broadcast was simply an insult on the psyche of Nigerians.
Specifically, it said the broadcast was a mockery on the nation’s integrity as an independent state.
Buhari had, in his independence speech, addressed the nation and, among other things, said he inherited a skewed economy, barely five years into his administration.
But according to PDP, the speech was completely unpresidential, lacking in patriotic stance and is replete with manifest of inconsistencies, contradictions, paradoxes and false performance claims.
Read Also: Buhari still stuck in the past – Experts
In a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, national publicity secretary of the party, on Tuesday, the party said the broadcast further confirmed that the country is in wrong hands.
“The PDP notes that President Buhari, in his recorded address, failed to forcefully address the key issues of freedom, social justice, constitutional order, separation of powers, rule of law, human rights, credible elections, national cohesion, accountability and transparency in government; the very fundamentals of an independent state, because his administration had violated them all.
“The party regretted that President Buhari had no forceful reassurances on the challenge of escalated insecurity under his watch; he had no clear-cut and operable blueprint to revamp our economy, which his administration wrecked in a period of four years, resulting in so much hardship and despondency that Nigerians now resort to suicide and slavery abroad as options.
“Our party notes that this address further exposes that the Buhari Presidency is not interested in nation building; that it is completely disconnected from the people and remains insensitive to the plights of Nigerians,” it stated.
The party further posited that the President only succeeded in further demonstrating that his administration is, indeed, in no position to deliver a credible, acceptable and satisfactory independence address.
Read Also: Independence Day: What is there to celebrate?
“This is so because under the Buhari Presidency, our nation has experienced the worst form of division, deprivation, human rights abuse, constitutional violations, disregard to rule of law, electoral malpractices, disobedience to court order, disrespect for separation of powers and curtailing of press freedom.”
The PDP further laments that due to “the incompetence and legitimacy challenges confronting the Buhari Presidency, our nation is losing her voice and due regard in the international arena; as the administration has remained lacking in the required capacity and boldness to forcefully engage other world leaders on critical issues.
“The dearth in foreign direct investment and the inhuman treatments being meted out on our citizens in countries where we were once held in very high esteem, are some of the injuries our nation is suffering under the Buhari administration.”
Describing it as depressive, PDP said, “While other leaders motivate their citizens on their independence, President Buhari presented uninspiring claims which, according to the party, is propaganda and empty promises.
“The PDP however, urges Nigerians not to despair but keep hope alive as we collectively await the Supreme Court to deliver justice and retrieve our stolen Presidential mandate, so that the nation will have a leadership that it truly deserves at this point in our national history.”
