The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of betraying the democratic principles and legacy of the late Chief MKO Abiola, subjecting Nigerians to a life of uncertainty and poverty.
This critique comes ahead of this year’s Democracy Day, observed on June 12th, which commemorates the struggle for democracy in Nigeria.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, urged Nigerians to use the occasion to speak out against the harsh policies and anti-democratic tendencies of the APC government.
Ologunagba’s statement lamented the current state of the nation under the APC, describing their policies as “asphyxiating” and detrimental to the citizens’ rights and well-being.
“It is distressing that our nation is observing Democracy Day under a system that relishes in the brazen violation of the Constitution, election rigging, stifling and manipulation of opposition, muzzling of dissenting voices, and undermining the judicial system and other democratic institutions in a desperate attempt to turn Nigeria into a one-party state,” the statement read.
The PDP contrasted the current administration’s performance with its own tenure from 1999 to 2015, a period it describes as the “glorious days” of democracy in Nigeria.
During this time, the PDP claims to have expanded democratic practices and delivered dividends such as free and fair elections, adherence to the rule of law, and economic transformation, which made Nigeria a preferred destination for foreign investment.
They also highlighted the benefits of their privatization and commercialization policies, which they assert improved the fortunes of Nigerian citizens.
Ologunagba emphasized that democracy is fundamentally about the supremacy of the will of the people, the rule of law, and the pursuit of security and well-being for all citizens.
He accused the APC administrations of violating these ideals, showing no respect for public opinion, and burdening the populace with multiple taxes while looting the treasury to finance their luxurious lifestyles.
This, he argued, has left ordinary Nigerians in a state of fear, uncertainty, despondency, and abject poverty.
“It is saddening that instead of celebrating freedom and good governance—the very essence of democracy which Chief MKO Abiola stood for—Nigerians are in anguish over the exploitative, ill-implemented anti-people policies and programmes of the APC which have weaponized poverty in the country,” Ologunagba said.
He pointed to the recent increases in fuel prices and electricity tariffs, unaccompanied by any tangible policies or programs directed towards the welfare of the people, as further evidence of the APC’s anti-people stance.
“Today, under the APC, prices of food, medicines, and other essential commodities are increasing uncontrollably and soaring beyond reach,” he added.
Ologunagba also criticized the recent opening of a N21 billion luxury mansion for Vice President Ibrahim Shettima by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing it as a glaring example of the APC’s insensitivity, arrogance, and reckless misdirection of resources.
This opulence, he said, contrasts sharply with the country’s collapsing infrastructure, over 40% unemployment rate, widespread hunger, and poorly equipped schools and hospitals.
The PDP called on President Tinubu to use the occasion of Democracy Day to reflect deeply on the state of the nation under his administration.
They urged him to heed the growing public agitation over hunger and the high cost of living and to review policies that are “suffocating life in the country.”
“The PDP again reminds President Tinubu that there is destitution in the land and that the reaction of a hungry people is better imagined.
Mr. President should, in keeping with democratic tenets, listen to Nigerians and review policies that are suffocating life in the country,” Ologunagba concluded.
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