The Presidency has advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to either make the choice of joining the coalition against COVID-19 or shut up if it has nothing important to say.
The presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, in a statement issued Tuesday; titled: “PDP Should Stop their Campaign of Disorganization”, was reacting to the criticism that greeted President Muhammadu Buhari’s national broadcast from the leading opposition party.
The PDP had claimed that Buhari’s broadcast failed to address key issues as far as the fight against COVID-19 is concerned.
Shehu, who said that the PDP had opposed every single decision taken in the interest of national security by the Buhari administration, added that “the nation is more important than politics.”
He said: “Something must definitely be wrong with the PDP if they would – as they did yesterday (Monday)- dismiss the important national broadcast by President Muhammadu Buhari as ‘disappointing’, a speech for which the European Union, through their Ambassador to Nigeria, congratulated the President, describing it as ‘a very powerful address to the nation last night.’
“But by no means is this the first shocker for Nigerians from a party that sees itself as the alternative government.
“The week before, they celebrated a foreign leader who they invited to come and tutor President Muhammadu Buhari, an army General and a successful war commander, on how to fight Boko Haram terrorists.
“This is a leader who has transformed the armed forces in the last five years and brought them to a respectable standing among nations.
“They questioned the bravery of our soldiers and spread false rumors that their preferred foreign leader had routed out insurgents on the Nigerian soil and freed Nigerian territories and soldiers held captive by terrorists in northern part of Borno State.
“PDP’s corruption and ineptitude allowed Boko Haram to occupy 18 local governments to be captured and millions to relocate. Nigerians have not forgotten and are waiting for them in 2023.”
The statement added: “For a political party that led Nigeria for 16 years pursuing wrong policies and strategies that destroyed not only the armed forces but have destroyed the nation and its economy, there won’t be much from them to shock the citizens when they say that they see nothing good in the enormously successful war that the Buhari administration has waged against the Covid-19 global pandemic.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have at different times praised Nigeria and commended its anti-Covid war as worthy of emulation.
“This is on account of the fact that from the moment of its importation into the country, the government has done a lot of work to strengthen the health sector to stem the spread and defeat the virus.
“Government has succeeded in uniting the whole country- its religious and community leaders; business leaders and employee unions; students and civil society and a large number of political parties- with perhaps only the PDP yet to decide to join a massive and an unprecedented coalition of Nigerians-saying we are all in this together-fighting to defeat the coronavirus.
“Of significant interest in this circumstance is the leadership that the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) has shown through an ongoing public enlightenment campaign on the rules of hygiene beaming from radio and TV station in many parts of the country.
“The PDP won’t do any of these. No, to do this will be disruptive of their campaign of disorganization. They would rather attack the President as he attacks terrorists and coronavirus. They don’t realize that the times have changed and the country has changed. Their leaders continue to show an abysmal lack of understanding of the sentiments of the people,” he said.
Shehu said the decisions so far announced by the President in dealing with coronavirus will benefit the whole country, including leaders, followers, farmers, consumers, manufacturers, producers, traders, youngsters, the elderly, Muslim, Christian and non-believers.
