Hunger Protest: Commence economic policy review, PDP tells Tinubu

The Peoples Democratic Party has called on President Bola Tinubu to address Nigerians about the economic crisis facing the country.

The party also asked the President to urgently review its policies that are negatively impacting the lives of Nigerians.

In a press statement released Thursday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP highlighted the growing unrest and nationwide protests as a direct response to the government’s “arrogance” and “insensitivity” towards the hardships citizens face.

It emphasised that the protests could have been avoided if the APC had heeded previous advice to address the economic challenges and alleviate the populace’s suffering.

The PDP referenced a statement from 6 June 2024, urging President Tinubu to listen to the plight of Nigerians, warning that the public’s reaction to widespread hunger could be severe.

The party also accused the APC of exacerbating the crisis by allegedly hiring hoodlums to incite violence while expressing alarm over the dire economic conditions.

The statement reads in part, “Nigerians can recall that the PDP on several occasions offered advice on the state of the economy to the APC government, the most recent being the PDP’s statement on 6 June 2024, wherein it urged that ‘President Tinubu should listen to the heartbeat of Nigerians. There is hunger and destitution in the land. The reaction of a hungry people is better imagined! Mr. President, please act now.

“Sadly, these counsels did not receive the expected consideration resulting in the current situation. It is alarming that instead of engaging Nigerians and addressing their concerns, the APC allegedly recruited hoodlums to instigate violence so as to justify a clampdown and killing of innocent Nigerians.

“The APC is completely insensitive to the fact that more than 120 million Nigerians have become destitute and can no longer afford their daily meals and other basic necessities of life as the poverty rate soars to over 40 per cent because of the life-discounting policies of the APC administration.”

The PDP pointed to policies such as the abrupt increase in fuel prices and the arbitrary floating of the Naira as major contributors to the economic downturn.

According to the PDP, on several occasions, any people-oriented government ought to have been wary of the suffocating effect of the hasty and ill-implemented twin policies of abrupt increase in the price of petroleum products and arbitrary floating of the Naira without due cushioning measures to ensure the wellbeing of the people.

“The PDP restates that these thoughtless policies of the APC administration are responsible for the crippling of the productive sector with the crashing of the Naira to over N1,500 to a Dollar, fuel soaring to over N1,000 per litre, which in turn triggered high costs of goods and services with over 34 per cent inflation rate, over 40 per cent unemployment rate with the closure of millions of businesses and mass exodus of major multinational companies from our country.

“The APC has plunged Nigeria into a humanitarian crisis where millions of citizens are literally starving and dying of hunger. Sadly, today a bag of rice sells for over N85,000; a bag of beans goes for N150,000; a measure of garri now sells for N1,500 while a measure of cooking oil which sells for N1,200 now sells for N12,000 with prices of all food items increasing daily.

“More provocative is that while Nigerians are crying for food, the APC officials in government are busy looting the national treasury to fund their luxury appetite, including the acquisition of luxury jets, expensive holidays abroad, renovation of official residential mansions and other profligacies, without regard to the feelings and the pains of the majority of Nigerians,” the party stated.

The party added, “Also disturbing is the scandalous revelation that the APC administration is secretly paying a whopping N5.4 trillion as fuel subsidy for 2024 even after the President announced an end to fuel subsidy.”

It called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the nation on policy reviews to curb the growing economic challenges.

“What Nigerians expect at this time is for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to personally address the nation, announce major policy reviews and order an investigation into the alleged looting of subsidy and palliative funds,” the statement added.