| President Muhammadu Buhari |
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has counseled President Muhammadu Buhari to show humility and accept the bitter truth that poverty, internal conflicts, bloodletting, banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, abuse of human rights and general national insecurity have escalated under his divisive, vindictive and repressive administration.
The party says instead of embarking on ego trip and picking a fight with the United Nation (UN) Rapporteur, Agnes Callamard, for highlighting the grave security issues in the country, which are already in the international domain, the Buhari Presidency should be seeking for help, seeing that is has no solution to the festering problem.
In a statement on Friday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP said: “If anything, the UN Rapporteur report only reinforces the positions of credible international bodies including the United States Department of State, Amnesty International (AI) and Transparency International (TI) which also reported cases of arbitrary and extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, arbitrary detention, torture, festering violence, reported disappearances and abuse of human rights under the Buhari administration.
“Moreover, the PDP holds that the UN report is a vindication of its stance as well as that of millions of Nigerians that the ineptitude and repressive tendencies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration under President Buhari are emboldening acts on violence and fuelling impunity, division and intolerance in the polity.
“Today, Nigeria is becoming one of the most insecure places to live. Citizens can no longer move freely around their country as marauders, kidnappers, insurgents and bandits take over the highways, pillage communities, kill and take citizens captive at will.
“By fighting persons or organization that tell us the truth instead of seeking solutions, the Buhari Presidency is doing a great disservice to Nigerians especially those in communities being ravaged by insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and ethnic clashes.
“The PDP holds that at the moment, what ought to be paramount to the Buhari Presidency should not be the sentiments of regime image but the welfare and security of vulnerable Nigerians.
“President Buhari should therefore caution his handlers on their unguarded statements on grave national issues.
“He should immediately accept responsibility for his failures and seek help since he has not demonstrated the capacity to effectively led a nation as complex as Nigeria at the moment.
“The truth can be bitter, but in its acceptance lies the solution”.