PDP lacks right to demand Tinubu’s resignation – FG
The Federal Government, on Sunday, clapped back at the governors elected on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for asking President Bola Tinubu to resign from office if he had no answer to the nation’s myriad problems.>>>READ FULL ARTICLES HERE
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, questioned why the PDP failed to turn the country around during its extended shot at power.
He described the PDP governor’s resignation call as a distraction. The PDP governors, under the leadership of the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, had last week said Nigeria under Tinubu was on the path to becoming like Venezuela. On Saturday, the PDP governors advised Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress to resign over the state of the nation if they could not provide sustainable solutions.
But responding on Sunday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, in a statement signed by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, knocked the PDP governors. He said, “It is our considered view that the PDP and its governors should not be seeking, through the back door of intimidation, what they have consistently failed to achieve by democratic means, since 2015.
“Those who could not bring transformational change when they had a lengthy chance to, should not seek to interrupt or distract those who are busy at work on the presidential vision that Nigerians elected them to implement.”
Explaining what the present administration was currently working on, the minister explained, “The administration of President Bola Tinubu has, since inception, generously extended financial support to all the state governments, regardless of partisan affiliation. In addition, the removal of the petrol subsidy —which, incidentally, was one of the main planks of the PDP presidential campaign—has swelled the revenues of all states, including the PDP states. To whom more has been given, more is therefore expected.
“The President and his administration recognise the unfinished business of revamping our national economy kickstarted by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, through programmes focused on large-scale infrastructure, social welfare, prioritising the equipping and welfare of the military and security agencies, and reclaiming Nigeria’s strategic place in the comity of nations.
“Boko Haram and its affiliates, on the ascendancy in 2014/2015, have since been decimated, and similar bold gains are now being made with bandits and other criminals. “Nigerians have not forgotten that it was the APC administration that cleared several liabilities left behind by the PDP government, such as subsidy claims by oil marketers, Paris Club refunds, unpaid pensions, gratuities, and salary arrears owed various categories of pensioners from liquidated and existing state-owned enterprises.”
Idris said Tinubu would never be overwhelmed by the current challenges facing the country. “He will not abdicate his responsibilities. He will courageously continue to wrestle with the challenges and surmount them, laying a durable foundation for the new Nigeria that is emerging,” the minister.
SOURCE: Punch
Cost of living protest: Police warn against violence as Labour gives fresh conditions
The police authorities have said they would not condone any form of violence during the planned two-day demonstration declared by organised Labour in protest against the hardships and high cost of living in the country. The police handed down the Riot Act on Sunday as the Nigeria Labour Congress gave fresh conditions ahead of the minimum wage negotiation commencing on Monday (today.)
The police warning is coming against the backdrop of the alarm by the African Development Bank that rising prices of fuel and other commodities could lead to social unrest in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola, and Kenya. The AfDB sounded the warning in its macroeconomic performance and outlook for 2024 in which it projected Africa’s economy to grow higher than the 3.2 per cent recorded in 2023. The AfDB projected that growth on the continent will rebound to 3.8 per cent in 2024.
However, the bank cautioned that an increase in fuel and commodity prices occasioned by currency depreciation or subsidy removal in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, and Ethiopia could trigger internal conflicts. It stated, “Internal conflicts and violence could also result from rising prices for fuel and other commodities due to weaker domestic currencies and reforms.
“For instance, the removal of fuel subsidies in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria and the resulting social costs has led to social unrest driven by opposition to government policy.” On February 8, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress gave a two-week ultimatum to the government to implement the agreements on palliatives for workers to mitigate the impact of the fuel subsidy removal and other policies reached last October.
The unions said they had mobilised their members for the nationwide protests slated for February 27 and 28. The organised labour lamented that millions of Nigerian workers were facing hunger, erosion of purchasing power, and insecurity due to reforms that drove up inflation. The NLC National President, Joe Ajaero, said the protest would begin a week after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum it issued to the Federal Government which will expire on February 23.
Ajaero, who spoke during a briefing with journalists in Abuja, said the decision followed an emergency National Executive Council meeting on the state of the economy and matters related to insecurity in the country. Sunday PUNCH had on February 18 (yesterday) reported that organized labour was prepared to lower its demand for N1m minimum wage for workers in the country in line with realities on the ground which include high costs of living, inflation, naira devaluation, and the general economic shocks.https://reportgist.com/2024/02/19/breaking-news-pdp-lacks-right-to-demand-tinubus-resignation-fg/
SOURCE: Punch
