Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have expressed sadness that President Muhammadu Buhari, and his All Progressives Congress (APC) regime, have not only widened Nigeria’s fault lines with divisive actions but have also supervised the nation’s slide into extreme decay within just five years in power.
The Governor Aminu Tambuwal-led PDP Governors Forum also said in spite of enviable strides recorded since independence 60 years ago, the nation appears to be on reverse gear with the current state of affairs.
This was contained in a statement titled, ‘Reflection on Nigeria @ 60: The past, Present and Way Forward…We need a national dialogue,’ signed by the PDPGF Chairman, and made available to journalists in Abuja, on Thursday.
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In an apparent response to claims by their APC counterpart’s claims of steady progress, the PDP governors said, “In the last five years, under the APC-controlled administration, Nigeria has continued on the downward slide into extreme decay, with the country displacing India as the poverty capital of the world, with an estimated 87 million Nigerians living on less than $1.9 US Dollars a day (Brooking Institute 2018).
“We as leaders must strive harder to make sure that poverty is minimised in all parts of the country. This is even made worse by the fact that in 2019 Nigeria ranked 93rd out of 117 qualifying countries with a score of 27.9 below Guinea and Mali in the Global Hunger index.
“It is also regrettable to note that the Buhari-led APC administration has plunged Nigeria deeper into the debt trap after the country had exited from its initial debt burden from the London and Paris Clubs under the PDP-led administration.
“It is indeed sad to observe that Nigeria’s external debt hit a 16 year high of $27 billion in December 2019, just higher than the $20.8 billion in external level as at 2005 when Nigeria exited from the club of its foreign creditors. Any loan acquired that is not directly tied to a meaningful infrastructure that can help Nigeria progress should not be taken.
“Our country under this same administration has also scored high on the global terrorism index, reaching an all-time high of 9.01% in 2016 and 8.6 in 2018 on the global terrorism index from an all-time low of 6.31% in 2010 to 7.9% in 2012 during the period the PDP was in power. This unfortunate situation has placed our nation in the league of countries deeply wrecked by terrorism such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria etc.”
Tambuwal said he and his colleagues feel the pains of Nigerians in the North-East, North-West and other parts of the country who are victims of terror in our land.
He noted that the daring activity of the Boko Haram terrorists and other bandits which have continued to make lives difficult for Nigerians is “putting a big lie to the APC-led Federal Government’s claim that Boko-Haram has been defeated.”
“This Government has failed Nigerians on issues of security and the general welfare and wellbeing of our people,” he added.
