The Labour Party described the nationwide broadcast to Nigerians by President Bola Tinubu, on New Year’s Day as “appalling and hollow.”
National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said this while responding to the president’s speech in Abuja, on Monday.
He said, “If anything, the speech conveyed to Nigerians the high level of hypocrisy, deceit and lack of empathy which has become the guiding principle of the All Progressives Congress administration which Tinubu leads.
“It is depressing to note that the President and his handlers didn’t deem it fit to include a word of comfort for the families of over 200 persons killed by terrorists during the Christmas Eve massacre in Plateau State.
“The President’s helplessness in the face of his glaring failure to address the critical issues of insecurity, decayed infrastructure, the collapse of the manufacturing and productive sectors, inflation and the Naira to Dollar exchange rate which is spiralling out of control is written all over the speech.
“There was no word about the alleged massive looting of the nation’s resources by appointees and party leaders in various sectors.
“Most disturbing for us is the President’s false claim that, “everything I have done in office, every decision I have taken and every trip I have undertaken outside the shores of our land, since I assumed office on 29 May 2023, have been done in the best interest of our country”, what a despicable form of deceit.
“How does his ill-advised decision on Fuel Subsidy removal without a plan to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians translates into an action taken in the national interest?
“Of what benefit were the millions of the nation’s dwindling foreign reserves frittered away under the guise of attending the climate change summit in Dubai to Nigerians?
“How do we begin to repair the damage being done to our democratic institutions such as the Judiciary, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC among others by the APC Administration?
“While we call for prayers for our nation in this critical point of our history, we will continue to call on the National Assembly to look beyond party lines and ensure that the spirit and the letter of our constitution is upheld at all times.”