Fuel Crisis: APC Kneeling on the Necks of Nigerians, Says PDP

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led federal government of kneeling on the necks of Nigerians with the lingering fuel scarcity in the country cum the pervasive culture of impunity.

The PDP contended that the APC administration’s unrelenting culture of arrogance, impunity and criminal pillaging of  the  nation’s resources was akin to kneeling on the necks of Nigerians.

The opposition party warned that there was a limit to what the people could bear under an administration that remained arrogant, inhumane, unconcerned and insensitive to their plights occasioned by its misrule.

National Publicity Secretary of the party,  Debo Ologunagba, asked: “Is it not an unpardonable dereliction of duty that while the nation is in turmoil and agonising under a collapsed national grid, protracted fuel crisis, distressed aviation sector, plummeting currency, crippled production and commercial activities, President Muhammadu Buhari remains aloof and ‘absent’ as always?”

According to the PDP,  the failure by Buhari, who also doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to take immediate action, other than the snubbish stance by his presidency that “heavens will not fall”, because of fuel scarcity, amounted to daring Nigerians to do their worse.

“It is often said that, when a government abdicates its responsibility to the citizens at whose pleasure it should serve, then, that government is complicit in the suffering of its people and a beneficiary of their woes.

“Sadly, today, thousands of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises; the drivers of the economy are folding up daily, industries are relocating to neighboring countries, universities are on strike, the aviation sector is on the brink of collapse, our railway is tottering to a halt due to lack of diesel, police are threatening to go on strike, insecurity is on the rise due to the collapse of the informal economic sector, yet, Mr. President had time to holiday in England!
“If President Buhari could personally communicate on issues that concern his fizzling party, the APC, while in England, it is inconceivable that he failed and neglected, as always, to attend to life discounting experiences and pains encountered by Nigerians daily by the thoughtless and inhumane policies of his government,” the PDP lamented.

The party said Buhari needed to be reminded of his duty to Nigerians, to in the least, show some empathy, competence and concern as the country rapidly drifted towards a looming precipice, explaining that the frustration in the country was already degenerating into a nationwide restiveness that might result to the breakdown of law and order if allowed to fester.

According to the PDP, “With petrol now selling between N400 to N500 per liter, diesel at over N800 per liter, kerosine at over N750 and aviation fuel at N670 per liter, millions of businesses, employments and sources of livelihood, have collapsed in both urban and rural areas, resulting in acute hardship and widespread social tension across the country.

“Our party fears that the situation is getting to a boiling point and can trigger a nationwide agitation that might be worse than the October 2020 EndSARS, if not addressed immediately.”

Accordingly,  the PDP said Buhari must take responsibility for the criminal racketeering in his government by APC leaders, which has led to the crippling of the economy under his watch.

He should stop abdicating his duties by sending his aides to issue wild claims, fake promises and noncommittal apologies on the abysmal failures of his administration.