Governors elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have decried the continued insecurity, the persistent and ceaseless flow of Nigerians’ blood on a daily basis in many parts of Nigeria.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the meeting attended by 12 PDP governors including the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The meeting which was the first for the year 2022 and reviewed the state of the nation and urged the Federal Government to outline the strategies to confront terrorists, kidnappers, bandits and other criminals are still a major problem of the APC administration.
At the end, the Chairman of the forum who is also the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal who read the communiqué expressed regrets that Mr President is unwilling, from his recent comments discountenancing the proposals for state policing, to participate in reviewing the structural problems of tackling insecurity in Nigeria.
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The meeting urged Mr President to reconsider his position and consider decentralisation and restructuring of the security architecture as the most viable solution, together with proper arming, funding and training requirements for Security Agencies.
”As part of the communique, the PDP Governors also urged the National Assembly to pass the Electoral Act Amendment Bill either by overriding Mr. President’s veto or deleting areas of complaints.
The opposition Governors also countered President Buhari for rejecting state police while also knocking him for the mismanagement of the country’s economy which has plunged many citizens into poverty while the government continues to amass loans by borrowing both locally and internationally.
The party called on the citizens to get their PVCs and be ready to vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general elections,’’ the meeting said.
According to them, ”The Nigerian Economy has continued to deteriorate and Nigerians have become numb and accustomed to bad economic news as exemplified by the inconsistent and differential exchange rate regime, high interest rates, unsustainable unemployment figures and borrowing spree some of which have not been applied to important projects, and other bad economic indicators.
”In particular, it is clear that the APC Government is a massive failure when compared with the records of PDP in government. The PDP handed over a $550 billion economy (the largest in Africa), but under APC, Nigeria is the Poverty Capital of the world.
”In 2015, under PDP, the exchange rate was N198 per Dollar, it is now under APC almost N500 to a Dollar; In 2015, unemployment rate was 7.3% under PDP, it is now 33%, one of the highest in the world under APC; In 2015, the Pump price of Petroleum was N87 per litre, it is now N165 per litre and climbing under APC. Debt Servicing now under APC takes over 98% of the Federal budget. The tales of woe is endless.’’
The PDP Governors noted that the management of our Oil and Gas resources, the administration of Federation Account remittances have remained opaque, confusing and non–transparent. In addition, the transition to NNPC Ltd under the Petroleum Industry Act has not been properly streamlined to ensure that the interests of all the tiers of Government are protected, consistent with the 1999 Constitution.
The meeting urged eligible Nigerians of all walks of life, particularly the Youths, to register en masse with INEC to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general elections.
It further noted that the next election is a very consequential election that should be used to end the dominance of very youth unfriendly APC Government; a government that had the arrogance to deny Nigerian youths of the use of TWITTER, a business friendly tool for the young, for over a year. The youths should empower themselves to determine who leads them.
It was attended by Governors Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; Sen. Douye Diri – Bayelsa State; Samuel Ortom -Benue State; and Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa – Delta State.
Others were Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – Enugu State; Nyesom Wike, CON – Rivers State; Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde – Oyo State; Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri -Adamawa State and Bala Mohammed -Bauchi State as well as PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu
