Frustration over fuel crisis, power outage may lead to agitation worse than #ENDSARS in Nigeria – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) warned on Sunday the current socio-economic challenges including the crippling fuel crisis and power outage might lead to worse agitation than the October 2020 #ENDSARS protest in Nigeria.

The party, which gave the warning in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop abdicating his duties by sending aides to issue wild claims, fake promises and non-committal apologies for the “abysmal failures of his government.”

The party stressed that Buhari’s refusal to address the fuel scarcity that first surfaced in the country last month and the current blackout in many states was “akin to kneeling on the necks of Nigerians.”

It urged the President to show empathy, competence and concern over the myriad of challenges in the country.

The statement read: “The PDP warns that there is a limit to what the people can bear under an administration that remains arrogant, inhumane, unconcerned and insensitive to their plights occasioned by its misrule.

“Is it not an unpardonable dereliction of duty that while the nation is in turmoil and agonizing 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?

“The failure by President Buhari, who also doubles as the minister of petroleum resources, to take immediate action, other than the snobbish stance by his presidency that ‘heavens will not fall’ because of fuel scarcity amounts to daring Nigerians to do their worst.

READ ALSO: Senate demands holistic reform of police, decries #ENDSARS mayhem

“Sadly today, thousands of small and medium scale enterprises; the drivers of the economy are folding up daily, industries are relocating to neighbouring 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.

“The frustration in the country is already degenerating into a nationwide restiveness that may result in the breakdown of law and order if allowed to fester.

“With petrol now selling between N400 to N500 per litre, diesel at over N800 per litre, kerosine at over N750 and aviation fuel at N670 per litre, millions of businesses, employment 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 protest if not addressed immediately.”

 

 

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