The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said resulting to use heavy security presence during President Muhammadu Buhari two days working visit to Lagos State on Thursday showed the level of the president and the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) ‘sinking image.’
The party in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, on Friday also criticised President Buhari for his failure to initiate or execute any project in Lagos State since assumption of office.
The president during the visit commissioned a number of projects including a deep seaport project and a bus terminal located behind the rail line of the Nigeria Railway Corporation which is about 1km from the airport in Lagos State.
According to the state government, the new bus terminal will connect 22 routes with over 70,000 people expected to transit through it daily.
However an unimpressed PDP described the visit as a “ridiculous face-saving stunt”.
The party compared Mr. Buhari to the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, “who commissioned factories in all districts of his country to mark one year in office”.
Major routes in Lagos were blocked due to the heavy security deployment during the visit. This, in addition to a work-free day declared by the state government, was criticised by many Lagosians.
The PDP said the security measures put in place by the APC, was “to restrain the people, having realised the citizens’ overwhelming indignation against the President”.
“The handlers had to lockdown the city, regardless of the huge economic loss and inconvenience to citizens and holed their principal into the safety of the colloquium hall where he was surrounded by praise singers, away from the people. Lagosians are aware that Mr President suddenly remembered the state just because elections are around the corner.
“It is most tragic that while the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, who hosted President Buhari early this month, was commissioning factories in all districts of his country to mark his one year in office, our President could only offer Lagos, with its over 22 million population, the commissioning of a bus stop, which unfortunately, he did not even build?
“Today, his administration is again stifling the growth of the state. Instead of bringing blessing to Lagos, President Buhari’s visit brought more suffering, economic loss and pains, as the lockdown cost the state a major part of its $250 million daily GDP,” it said.
The party said it was ironical that the projects commissioned by Mr Buhari were not initiated by him.
Aside the bus terminal, the president also commissioned the Lekki free zone deep sea project and Eko Atlantic City Project.
“It is also instructive to inform that contrary to impression of achievements, the Buhari-led Federal Government has no input whatsoever in both the Eko Atlantic City and the $1.5 billion Lagos Deep Water Port, which were respectively toured and flagged off by the President during his visit.
“These projects are running on public, private partnership initiated by the Lagos state government, which leveraged on the enabling business environment created by the PDP administration. We urge President Buhari not to, in anyway, under any guise whatsoever, attempt to appropriate these projects as his achievements.
“Our advice to President Buhari and his APC is that the 2019 election would not be conducted in a colloquium hall but on the streets, among the many communities of our nation, and the verdict of the people against them is already clear.”
