Buhari’s govt, most unprepared in history —PDP

National Publicity Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh

The Peoples Democratic Party has berated the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as lacking in capacity and worsening the country’s economy.

The major opposition party in the country said there was widespread disenchantment being expressed by Nigerians over the inept handling of governance and insincerity by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.

In a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, the PDP said Buhari’s government had become a huge source of worry for the health of the nation.

The party noted that the attitude of the APC administration to governance in the last five months and the feelings of a cross section of Nigerians underscored the fact that the PDP, notwithstanding the setback of the last general elections, remained the only true pan-Nigeria vehicle that guarantees the unity, stability and prosperity of the nation as well as the welfare of individual Nigerians, irrespective of class, creed and tribe.

The statement read in parts, “It is now manifest to all that the APC administration is completely bereft of ideas needed to effectively manage the nation, a consequence of which is the sudden decline in the economy, general anxiety and prevailing unhappiness and grumbling among the citizens across board.

“The apparent lack of capacity and ingenuity by this APC government to run the affairs of our dear nation has become evident in the myriads of political and economic glitches that have bedevilled the polity since it took office on May 29.

“Nigerians, going by their comments, are deeply disturbed that instead of focusing on issues that directly touch on their lives, especially given its long list of campaign promises, the APC administration has remained high on propaganda, violating the constitution for partisan capital, hounding perceived political enemies; while at the same time continuing in their trick of hoodwinking the populace, using their so-called body language theory in the attempt to appropriate achievements of the previous PDP administration.”

The PDP said the fact that the Buhari-led government had been unable to pursue any investment in any of the critical sectors, eliciting public fears of serious economic crisis in the coming years.

The party added that the APC was not the desirable alternative to the PDP, but a band of “power grabbers, who swindled the electorate to get into office using false promises and propaganda.”

In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, asked what the PDP actually wanted.

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While promising a comprehensive reply to the statement by the main opposition party, he said Nigerians know whether they Buhari government was working or not.

“They said we are not working, yet light has improved. They said we are not working, yet we are stamping out corruption and the PDP is not happy. They will bellyache for long,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the PDP has dismissed the Lagos State National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal’s judgment upholding the declaration of Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila as winner of the March 28, 2015, House of Representatives election in the Surulere Federal Constituency 1.

Gbajabiamila is the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives.

The candidate of the PDP, Tony Ashikodi, who polled 14, 550 votes against Gbajabiamila’s 21, 715 votes, had headed for the tribunal to challenge Gbajabiamila’s victory.

The Justice C.U Anwuka-led three-man tribunal, on Friday, however, rejected the petition challenging the victory of Gbajabiamila and his party, the APC, in the said election.

The Publicity Secretary of Lagos PDP, Mr. Taofik Gani, in an interview with one of our correspondents, expressed disapproval of the verdict, stating that the party would challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal, as well as petition the National Judiciary Council.

He said, “The popular opinion is that the PDP candidate, Mr. Tony Ashikodi, won that election. We are surprised that despite the array of evidence and the facts being so obvious to the tribunal, as put forward by our lawyers, the tribunal still went further to give judgment to Gbajabiamila.

“Again, on technical grounds, the tribunal in Lagos has not been delivering justice and we make bold to say that at the end of all, we will approach the National Judicial Council to probe the manner which this tribunal delivers judgment on the petitions in Lagos State.”

According to the party spokesperson, Gbajabiamila’s victory is momentary.

He added that the tribunal is under watch and expressed conviction that the NJC would investigate why “in Lagos, despite numerous petitions, all the tribunals are doing is delivering judgment in favour of the APC.”