Nigeria sitting on time bomb –PDP

PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, at a press conference yesterday, said the economy is in dire straits as the country heads toward insolvency, occasioned by huge unserviceable debts and the crash of oil price.

He added that there is no segment of the nationhood that is in good shape.

“For a regime that came into office on the pedestal of revamping the economy, restoring security and fighting corruption to fail on all scores, it is obvious the bloom is well off the roses,” Secondus stated.

He noted that instead of providing strong and decisive leadership, the APC regime is destroying the solid foundation upon which the country stands and “dislocating a building pillar of the society.

“There are other core issues of our national life that have similarly deteriorated under this administration.

“Constitutionalism and due process of law are being circumvented, compromised and abused.

“For example, public officers whom the law demands legislative confirmation are put and kept in offices against the provisions of the law.

“There are also rampant deliberate and scornful disregard of court orders and legislative resolutions.”

According to him, the twin evils of bribery and corruption have continued to reign supreme in the nation’s public and private lives, adding that reports released from the State Department of the United States of America confirmed this worrying development that in Nigeria, public officials still engage in corrupt practice with impunity.

“All over the country, strategic institutions have been bedevilled by varying degree of corrupt practices. There are also widespread allegations on several serving public officers of corrupt enrichments with no actions taken,” he added.

Secondus said Nigerians are living in fear as security situation worsened and remained unabated; stating that any regime that fails to secure the safety of lives and property of its citizens has lost all moral and lawful rights to continue in office. “The Buhari regime has utterly failed in this regard,” he said.

The PDP National Chairman decried extra-judicial acts of security agencies, which he noted, have compromised the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.

“The several mindless cutting down of the lives of Nigerians all over the country are sore examples of reference.

“Even the little mileage made on the image of the country in the international community in the years before 2015 has been lost.

“The cumulative effects of all these, however, is the weakening of such critical democratic institutions like political parties, the electoral process, the judiciary and the backbone of our nationhood, the military,” he said.

The National Chairman noted the tardiness with which the Federal Government handled the coronavirus pandemic, stating that while other world leaders rose to the occasion, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.

He added that while President Buhari was yet to address Nigerians on the issue, the officers on duty did not have the needed political will.

“Also very outstanding is Nigeria government’s response to disaster as was experienced in weekend’s pipeline explosion in Lagos State.

“The measure of bloodletting in the country under the watch of this regime is that there is hardly any press conference we do that we do not observe some time for souls of our beloved ones,” he regretted.

Secondus blamed problems facing the country on unemployment, and said that until these were resolved, Nigeria would continue to experience violence and crimes.

He called on President Buhari to give Nigeria “a firm, purposeful, consultative and all-inclusive leadership, and expressed the PDP’s conviction that the problems could be successfully resolved if there is a fair and effective leadership at the top.

“It is now time to give this leadership or give way to capable hands.

“The point we are trying to underscore here very loudly is that this country is sitting on a time bomb and we must not allow it to explode.

“We in PDP have our genuine fears that this government and its managers lack the needed capacity to lift us out of the wood because we got into it ab-initio due to their incapacity.

“But that notwithstanding, the regime should be sensitive to the plight of the suffering masses of the country by reviewing downwards various draconian policies like the various tax regimes, especially the Value Added Tax (VAT) that affects every goods and services.

“The government should avoid pouring fuel to an already burning inferno with their reckless and lawless attitude to human rights issues which worsens situation and exposes the country to further ridicule.

“When you depose a traditional ruler and deprives him and his family of their fundamental human rights and, in less than 24 hours, the United Nation gives him an exalted appointment, it says a lot how you are rated globally.”