TheCable

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) say life has become “valueless” under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The governors were reacting to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, on Sunday.

Shehu had said the PDP governors, in describing the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a “menace” to Nigerians, were attempting to cover up the “serial failure” of the opposition party’s previous years in office.

Shehu’s comment came after the governors, on March 23, declared that the APC is unfit to participate in the 2023 general election.

In a statement issued on Monday, C.I.D. Maduabum, director-general of the PDP governors’ forum, said Shehu is “enveloped in the presidential villa and totally oblivious of the suffering and agony Nigerians are facing”.

”We are moved to respond to the infantile, ignorant, pedestrian, low quality, confused and rambling response of Garba Shehu, spokesman of the so-called Presidency, an amorphous entity, to the fact-filled patriotic, well thought-out chronicle of the dire living conditions of Nigerians by the PDP Governors in their communiqué of March 23, 2022, for the need to set the records straight,” the statement reads.

“Garba Shehu described the communiqué as a fantasy, delusional and fictional. He even derided Nigerian armed forces as ‘phantom soldiers’.

“Perhaps he was dazed by the sheer assemblage of facts, figures and evidence on the existential threat Nigeria is facing as a result of the APC misrule, with respect to the economy, security, stealing of Nigeria’s crude, etc., as contained in the communiqué.

“The PDP Governors communiqué made a comparative sketch of Nigeria of 2015 under PDP and Nigeria of 2022 under APC. The communiqué reeled out the fact that in almost all sectors, things have gotten worse by over 1000%.

“This is reflected in prices of basic foodstuffs, unemployment rate, electricity prices, kerosene, diesel, fuel, aviation fuel and air ticket prices which have all gone through the roof. It reeled out figures on poverty, inflation, exchange rate, debt accumulation and corruption.

“Indeed, all aspects of life in Nigeria are being systematically destroyed by the APC administration. Life has become short, brutish and valueless in Buhari’s Nigeria as insecurity ravages the land. But this is not the problem of Garba Shehu, who is enveloped in the Presidential Villa, totally oblivious of the suffering and agony Nigerians are facing.”

The PDP governors also said the Buhari administration has not done enough to address the country’s security challenges.

“Garba Shehu accused PDP Governors of influencing ethnic and religious tensions. How does pointing out the deteriorating state of affairs in Nigeria inflame ethnic and religious tensions? The Buhari Presidency by all objective accounts is the worst in Nigeria’s history in managing our diversity,” the governors said.

“Under APC’s 7 years rule, Nigerians no longer trust one another, ethnic and religious differences are not properly managed. All our fault lines are exposed and exacerbated.

“Garba Shehu had the temerity to praise the military success under Buhari as compared to the PDP. That someone in today’s Nigeria can be this tone-deaf to the cheapening of life in Nigeria under the watch of the APC is to say the least, unfortunate.

“The recent events in Kaduna have brought trauma and shame to Nigeria. There can be no better evidence of government adrift, unconcerned and rudderless — without care about how the economy runs.”