President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to stop the propaganda deployed by his party, All Progressives Congress to hoodwink Nigerians into believing he is working.
In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, made it clear that Nigerians expected Buhari to hit the ground running, urging him to quickly settle down to handle the country’s teething economic problems for which he was elected.
The statement reads in part:
“The PDP as a responsible political party made a promise to President Muhammadu Buhari that it would not get involved in detracting him from delivering good governance to the Nigerian people. This has informed our restrained position on a number of issues that ordinarily we would have commented on. However, because of the overzealousness of your spokespersons and some members of your party, the APC, in dramatizing some imaginary achievements of your administration in a space of one month, there is need to put the records straight.
“We need to bring to your notice certain indices that if not properly corrected are capable of derailing the smooth running of your administration. It is incontrovertible that instead of focusing on the promises you made to Nigerians and on policy thrusts that will move our economy forward, the ruling party has been made to be very high on propaganda, deceitful engagement and cosmetic governance.
“We believe you should extricate yourself from these agents of propaganda who continue to believe that Nigerians would be swayed by these cosmetic interventions instead of real business of government.
“As the leader of the most populous black nation in the world, we believe you should not allow your Presidency to be pushed into the gimmicks of playing to the gallery and attempting to use the dramatization of promissory notes and pledges by foreign interests, false premature claims of victory against insurgency, dramatization of salary cut and rejection of official cars, all to gain cheap popularity and create an impression that the government is on course when, in the actual fact, the new administration has not been able to locate a bearing since its inauguration in May.”
On the cut effected on the President’s salary, the PDP said: “While we appreciate the symbolic gesture by Mr. President in ‘cutting’ his N14 million annual basic salary by 50 percent, it should be noted that Nigerians would not be wavered by the N7million annual donation and rejection of official cars, and forget their expectations for the implementation of his long list of campaign promises for which he was elected into office.
“The Presidency should know that these orchestration, no matter how populist they may seem, do not in any way address the burning issues of employment, worsening security situation, decline in the economy, avoidable inactivity in government businesses, and continued apparent slide of the naira which has dipped from under N200 to the dollar in May to an all time low of N238 under the APC administration, among others.
“Moreover, Nigerians cannot be overwhelmed by the gestures, especially given that they are pretty aware that the salary is a mere drop in the ocean of personal allowances and privileges that come to the president. They cannot therefore be deluded by impressions aimed to make government appear to be on course when it has only been a case of all motion, no movement, spiced with unnecessary excuses.
Nigerians, going by feelers, have not been thrilled by such orchestrations as other leaders who at one time or the other adopted similar stance did not dither or become laidback, but hit the ground running with governance. What the citizens want is a government that is urgent in living up to its billings and campaign promises. Instead of allowing his government to be taken over by needless showmanship, Mr. President must realize that the people would not judge him by such measures but by the extent to which he addressed critical issues of governance for which he was voted into power.”
PDP called on Buhari to brace up to the challenges facing the country, saying: “The issue is about the President facing the challenges of governance and assembling his team of experts and capable hands to manage the economy, which has been on the decline since he assumed office. It is also about allowing the different arms of government, especially the National Assembly, to work smoothly and encourage conducive democratic environment where the rule of law, personal freedom and security of lives and property are guaranteed.
“Perhaps, we may need to draw Mr. President’s attention to the growing concern that under his watch, democratic institutions are no longer free. While activities of the National Assembly have been disrupted, the nation’s electoral body has lost its independence due to the appointment of an Acting Chairman who is publicly known to have very strong relationship with your good self and key members of your party.”
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