Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Bola Tinunu’s broadcast on Monday was “bereft” of “concrete” plans to address the nation’s problems.

During the broadcast, Tinubu laid out plans by his administration to improve the living standard of Nigerians, grow the economy and mitigate the effect of petrol subsidy removal.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, said Nigerians should not believe Tinubu with “his staged address in feeble defence of his badly planned and hurriedly-executed policies that have worsened economic hardship and uncertainty across the country in the last two months”.

“The PDP is appalled that the address is another litany of false promises hurriedly put together by his handlers in the desperate bid to hoodwink and beguile Nigerians, blackmail labour fronts and divert public attention from the life-discounting experiences imposed by the APC government,” the statement reads.

“Such antics and play on the psychology of Nigerians with propaganda and empty promises are consistent with the deceptive trajectory of the APC since its emergence in 2014.

The opposition party alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last administration with Tinubu as the leader “never fulfilled any of the promises made to Nigerians.

According to the statement, the PDP said the ruling party has remained unaccountable and “turned our once prosperous nation to the poverty capital of the world where over 130 million citizens cannot afford their daily meals and other necessities of life”.

“We invite Nigerians to note that a comprehensive review of the speech shows that it is merely aspirational, meant only to mesmerize the citizens as it is completely bereft of any concrete plans to tackle the energy crisis, production issues, monetary challenges and worsening insecurity in our country,” the PDP said.

“It is instructive to observe from the speech, that the APC has no marshal plan to stimulate domestic crude refining as an answer to the crippling energy and manufacturing deficits in the country, instead the APC has committed our nation to the mercies of foreign interests and market forces.

“The submission in the speech that there are no other ways but for Nigerians to suffer hardship and high costs further exposes APC’s scandalous cluelessness, lack of capacity and deficiency of innovative ideas to effectively steady and manage a nation like Nigeria.

“It also shows APC’s insensitivity to the suffering of Nigerians and lackadaisical approach to serious issues of governance. It is like the case of you take it or leave it! The APC should know that there is frustration in the society in the face of its apparent lack of ideas and leadership focus.”

The PDP asked Nigerians “not to despair over the new challenges presented by the speech but to remain calm and continue to support one another at this perilous time while hoping in the judiciary to restore their mandate for the enthronement of a purposeful, people-oriented and effective administration that will work only for the interest of the people”.

The Cable