The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the manifest incompetence of the
Buhari Presidency as well as President Muhammadu Buhari’s lack of
visibility and failure to personally lead from the front are responsible
for the failure to check the spread of COVID-19 in our country.
The PDP laments that the alarming increase in infection and mortality
rates in Nigeria would have been curtailed if the nation had a
competent, proactive and transparent leadership with the capacity to
articulate a quick national response to the pandemic.
The party notes that the situation had been worsened by greedy and
corrupt All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and the cabal in the
Presidency, who are cashing in on President Buhari’s ineffectiveness to
pillage resources meant for the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in our
country.
The PDP describes as distressing that since the outbreak of the pandemic
in Nigeria, Mr. President had not demonstrated the desired visibility;
addressed the nation only thrice (each time, after much prodding), after
which he had remained out of public visibility, leading to lack of
effective coordination of the fight against the pandemic.
Moreover, President Buhari has failed to act on wise suggestions by
well-meaning Nigerians, particularly on administration of palliatives
and production of homegrown therapeutics.
Since the third recorded broadcast, Mr. President had receded into the
safety of the Aso Presidential Villa, leaving his inept aides to
continue to issue disjointed claims and uncoordinated directives.
The PDP invites Nigerians to note that President Buhari’s failure to
make himself visible and personally lead from the front had resulted in
the failure to develop a strong all-inclusive and seamless national
response against the pandemic; leading to diverse responses by various
states and a consequent spike in spread and mortality rates.
President Buhari had woefully failed to spur and lead a strong teamwork
of federal, state governments and the organized private sector for a
proactive response that would have checked the spread of the pandemic in
our country.
The party observed that President Buhari’s backseat approach had also
encouraged the reckless pillaging of COVID-19 palliatives by his
officials, leaving majority of poor and vulnerable Nigerians unattended
to; a principal factor responsible for the general poor compliance to
lockdown directives in major cities.
The PDP laments that given that Mr. President is working from a blind
spot due to his narrow involvement in the fight, his reopening of the
economy without any post-lockdown stimulus had further worsened the
situation as the resultant economic stampede had led to massive
violation of health safety and social distancing protocols.
Furthermore, our party holds that Mr. President’s failure is also
responsible for our nation’s inability to rally indigenous researchers,
manufactures, virologists and healers for homegrown solutions, which
would have arrested the situation in our country.
Rather, the Buhari Presidency is laidback, waiting for foreign solutions
while the pandemic ravages our nation
Moreover, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had been bogged down
by political parochialism and abysmal corruption for which it is
shutting out our known experts from coming in to assist our nation with
solutions at this critical time.
The PDP therefore calls on President Buhari to accept failure, wake up
to the realities of the pandemic and justify his huge upkeep with
national resources by personally leading in this fight as Nigerians will
never accept any eventual resort to scapegoatism by his Presidency.
Our party’s focus remains the health, security and wellbeing of
Nigerians and we will not relent in protecting their interest,
particularly at this critical time.
Signed:
Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary
