The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have expressed the need for Nigerians to join hands to pray for the President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress (APC), led administration after a critical look at the President’s first 30 days in office following the May 29, 2015 inauguration and hand over.
The PDP in a statement released on Sunday, June 28, 2015 in Abuja by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, said that its call for the prayers was necessitated due to the President Buhari administration’s difficulty in finding its bearing to take off and face the challenges associated with governance.
The party described the President’s first 30 in office as “30 days of all motion and no movement,” and according to it, this does not sit well with the polity.
The statement said that the amount of confusion which has surrounded the government and the party in the last 30 days has made it imperative for Nigerians to pray because the success of failure of the Buhari administration will affect the entire nation and not only the President and his party.
His statement said, “We urge Nigerians to join hands in prayers and offer useful suggestions to President Buhari and the APC because with what we have seen in the last 30 days, the present administration is finding it very difficult to get its bearings right while showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the center.
“We are deeply worried that the President who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration, has not been able to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, a Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy.
“This is more so as the delay has brought government business in ministries, departments and agencies to a dangerous standstill with coordination of important policies vested on ministers and the SGF now in tatters while the system drifts.
“This situation also creates loopholes through which overzealous persons around the President can connive with unscrupulous elements in the bureaucracy to siphon public resources in addition to possibly misleading the President to violate due process by spending beyond and outside his statutory limits.”
Metuh also said that the state of the economy was reflecting the President’s actions and inactions. According to Metuh, the stock market has lost over N238 billion while the All-Share index has fallen by 849.87 basis points as at June 19, 2015.
He said; “The situation is taking its toll on the economy sector, which has in the 30 days witnessed unprecedented decline with a terrifying crippling of foreign and domestic investments including activities in the money and capital market sectors.
“Under President Buhari, the stock market has lost over N238 billion while the All-Share Index fell by 849.87 basis points as of June 19.
“In security, apart from the directive to relocate the counter terrorism command center to Borno State and seeking assistance from foreigners, no other concrete step has been taken in the fight against insurgency which the President, in his April 22, 2015 CNN interview, promised to end within his two months in office.
“Instead, the anti-terrorism effort has completely lost steam in the last 30 days, with insurgents, who had already been pushed to the verge of surrender in the Sambisa forest by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, now surging back and spreading into the country.”
He urged the President to confront issues of insurgency and national security with vigour while also calling for him to desist from actions which were capable of destroying the fabrics of security intelligence. He asked that all organs of internal security such as the Directorate of State Security be adequately respected as they are answerable to the country and as such should not be subject to public ridicule by the President’s aide.
He also pointed out that his party was worried about the situation of the National Assembly (NASS) and enjoined APC not to undermine the legislature.
