Recession: PDP Calls For Buhari's
Resignation
The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday railed
against President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing his
administration of incompetence, and saying he
should step down after the nation slipped into
economic recession.
In a statement released on Wednesday, PDP saw the
crisis as a direct consequence of Mr. Buhari’s
“ineptitude and incompetent” approach to economic
management which were a rehash of the “archaic
and incoherent economic policies” he similarly
pursued as the head of a military junta between 1983
and 1985.
“Nothing better showcases the absolute ineptitude
and incompetence of the Muhammadu Buhari
administration than the GDP, Inflation and
unemployment figures released by the Nigerian
Bureau of Statistics today,” the PDP said in a
statement signed by Deji Adeyanju, its director of
new media.
“The result of these indices is that Nigeria is in its
worst economic state for 29 years —dating back to
1987 when the nation had to take harsh steps to
recover from President Buhari’s policies of 1984-85.”
“As with 1984-85, companies are fleeing our shores
in droves. Manufacturers Association of Nigeria
(MAN) recently stated that 272 companies have shut
down in the past one year,” Mr. Adeyanju said.
Mr. Adeyanju also quoted key aspects of the detailed
data as released by the NBS on Wednesday and
compared them with what they were before his party
was voted out in 2015 after a 16-year streak.
“Portfolio investment declined to an estimated
$245.3m in Q2 2016. This represents a 9.5% from
$271.0m in Q1 2016 & is a far cry from $2.81bn in Q2
2015,” Mr. Adeyanju said. “A total of 4,580,602 people
have lost their jobs since May 29, 2015.”
The Buhari administration, in a statement
Wednesday afternoon, acknowledged the gloomy
economic data, but assured of improvements in an
apparent bid to assuage the fears of Nigerians.
“The just released GDP figures for the 2016 second
quarter by the National Bureau of Statistics while
confirming a temporary decline, has (sic) also
indicated an (sic) hopeful expectation in the country’s
economic trajectory,” the State House said in a
statement signed by Laolu Akande.
The administration attributed the negative results to
the activities of oil vandals and said other aspects of
the economy were yielding intended results,
indicating that Mr. Buhari might not be ready to
accept growing calls for a new policy direction.
“A close look at the data shows that this outcome was
mostly due to a sharp contraction in the oil sector
due to huge losses of crude oil production as a result
of vandalisation and sabotage.
“However, the rest of the Q2 data is beginning to tell
a different story. There was growth in the agricultural
and solid minerals sectors which are the areas in
which the Federal Government has placed particular
priority,” Mr. Akande said.
But the PDP, in its statement, said it was
unimpressed by the administration’s explanations,
saying it had observed a worrisome trend in the
polity.
“Our dismay is worsened by the fact that every
sphere of the Nigerian socio-political space (ranging
from the conduct of elections, human rights, respect
for the rule of law, security, technology, health etc) is
negatively affected by the Buhari administration,” Mr.
Adeyanju said.