The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly criticized President Bola Tinubu’s address to Nigerians on the occasion of the country’s 63rd Independence Day, asserting that it lacked substance and failed to offer any meaningful ideas.

The PDP further argued that the speech presented a misguided aspiration, particularly considering the distressing experiences faced by Nigerians under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

According to the party, Tinubu’s acknowledgment in his speech that his administration is responsible for the current severe hardships in the country validates the PDP’s stance that the Tinubu-led government lacks the competence, capacity, necessary skills, and compassion to effectively govern the nation. This statement was issued on Sunday by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Hon. Debo Ologunagba.

The PDP emphasized that Nigerians should not have to endure excruciating hardships if the country were governed by an administration with the vision and skills required to harness and manage the nation’s economic potential and national comparative advantage.

“On a day like this, Nigerians expected a presidential speech that would provide concrete solutions to critical challenges facing the nation, including security, as well as the crises in the electricity and petroleum sectors,” the party stated. “Indeed, any serious government with the required capacity and vision would outline a Marshall Plan for every critical sector capable of galvanizing and stimulating the economy through job creation.”

The party asserted that the current APC administration’s lack of preparedness and hasty implementation of poorly planned policies triggered a catastrophic economic failure with unprecedented negative effects on the productive sector and agonizing hardships for Nigerians.

The PDP expressed concern that Tinubu’s speech failed to present clear measures to revitalize crucial sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, food production, transportation, healthcare, education, and other pivotal areas of national life. The party also highlighted that the President’s speech offered no solutions to the depreciation of the Naira from N187 to over N1000 against the US Dollar under his administration or the alarming unemployment rate of over 40% and the increasing number of Nigerians fleeing the country.

“It is disheartening that the President’s speech made no mention of the mindless killings, maiming, abductions, and mass burials of citizens in various parts of the country under his watch. He offered no reassuring words regarding the abduction of students in Zamfara State or other victims of such heinous acts across the country,” the party lamented.

Regarding the much-touted welfare package, the PDP contended that there was nothing to celebrate about such meager tokenism, where President Tinubu announced a paltry N25,000 per month for six months for average low-grade workers while still making aspirational promises about Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.

The PDP invited Nigerians to recognize that President Tinubu’s speech left no doubt that the APC administration lacks the plans, capacity, and competence to handle the crucial and urgent task of governance, which clearly exceeds its managerial abilities, concluded the statement.

It should be noted that Tinubu had appealed to Nigerians to endure the economic hardships resulting from the removal of fuel subsidy in his nationwide broadcast on Sunday, marking the nation’s 63rd Independence Anniversary.