The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the tone of its message to President Bola Tinubu on his 74th birthday was not borne out of malice but to draw his attention to the everyday living realities of Nigerians.
The ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, had in a statement on X on Sunday, while sending Tinubu good wishes on his birthday, also drawn his attention to the present realities in the country.
Abdullahi, in another statement issued on Monday, said the party noted the rebuttal by Sunday Dare, one of the president’s many media aides, in response to the ADC’s birthday message, but added that Dare avoided real issues raised by the ADC.
He noted that in the short time between ADC’s birthday message and the rebuttal, about 12 Nigerians were killed in Plateau State.
“This is why Nigerians expect urgency, not explanations,” Abdullahi said.
He stated that the presidency’s defence had always been that the defence spending had increased, but pointed out that such has not translated to the safety of the people.
“Nigerians are right to ask why they still feel unsafe in their homes, on their roads, and in their farms?
“And sometimes, it even feels like this government’s policies are harsher on Nigerians than the government is on terrorists and bandits, who, disturbingly, have at times been referred to as ‘sons’ and ‘brothers,’” the ADC spokesperson stated.
He added that if the government is truly firm in its resolve, Nigerians deserve to see that firmness reflected first in the protection of innocent lives.
“What Nigerians expect is accountability. What we receive instead are lectures.
“Nigerians are often infantilised, told we complain only because we do not understand what the government is doing. They speak as if governance is a mystery.
“We are told that the hardship is necessary. That this is reform. But Nigerians really want to know: when will this ‘necessary pain’ begin to produce relief that people can actually feel?” the party asked.
According to the ADC, since the war in Iran started, governments all over the world have taken different emergency measures to keep the price of fuel down.
But in Nigeria, President Tinubu told the people that there is nothing his government could do to bring down the price of fuel, but instead, to continue to endure.
The party believes that there are measures the government could take, which it has either failed to consider or chosen to ignore, to bring down the pump price of petrol.
ADC advised Tinubu to suspend the 5% fuel tax his government imposed on Nigerians, and as well remove import and regulatory charges that drive up the pump price of petrol.
“This would immediately lower fuel costs, and with it, transport and food prices,” the party stated.
ADC said that Nigerians need a government that understands what people are going through and acts to make life easier, not harder.
