The Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation has asked the All Progressive Congress (APC) to apologise to Nigerians for bad governance since it came to power.
The indictment was contained in an article by the Director General of the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, Balogun Osuntokun, at the weekend.
Osuntokun described the three months administration of President Bola Tinubu-led administration as 76 days of gross darkness.
According to the campaign DG, after over 60 days in office, Nigerians have been at the receiving end of unplanned, ill-thought policies that have resulted in exponential increase in the prices of goods and services, decline in National Savings Rate and erosion of disposable incomes of Nigerians, increasing poverty and insecurity.
He said: “The list is unending, confusing, most unfortunate and lamentable! There is a clear lack of grasp of undergirding ethos of good governance predicated on short, medium and long-term stimulus strategy and policies.
“Nigeria can ill afford this experimental leadership approach and foray into governance by stealth with no imagination, deep thinking, substance and concrete ameliorative policies.
“In their own words, the APC led government admitted their error of declaring subsidy removal and currency unification without adequate plans to mitigate the potentially huge consequences, as Nigerians are now witnessing in anguish.
“For APC and their leaders, who claim to have long been prepared for the job of presiding over Nigeria’s administrative affairs, to commit such blunder, at this critical troubling period of our nation’s history, is inexcusable.”
He noted that the magnitude of such a mistake, which has debased and threatens to wipe out businesses with unprecedented worsening of the living conditions of Nigerians cannot be wished away with mere promises without adequate plans.
Osuntokun explained that the Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi, campaigned and promised to remove subsidies with a clear-cut plan on how to go about doing so.
“In line with our belief and promise to create and lead a ‘New Nigeria That is Possible’, Labour party campaigned for the removal of petrol subsidy principally to end the criminal appropriation of our national resources by a privileged few and their connected cronies.
“This was to be achieved through a gradual process, including the effective repairs and functioning of our refineries and activation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) opportunities to avoid dramatic increase in fuel price, inflation and pains on Nigerians.” he said.
He claimed that the genuine efforts to remove the subsidy and end the associated embezzlement of the nation’s common resources in 2012 by the then government of President Goodluck Jonathan was strategically thwarted and stopped by the current APC chieftains in their characteristic deceit to endear themselves to Nigerians and attain power.
“Not only did they fail to stop the looting through the removal of the subsidy, they also expanded it through all kinds of expenditures leading to our current debt crisis of over N77 trillion naira up from about N15 trillion when Buhari took over.
“As they were looting Nigeria dry in the guise of subsidy and other frauds, our dear Nation, Nigeria, acquired the dubious distinction of becoming the poverty capital of the world with over 135 million Nigerians now classified as multidimensionally poor, unemployment skyrocketed to over 35%, insecurity escalated to a frightening level never seen before in Nigeria and all other socio-economic development variables all negative”
“With their continued failures in providing the required leadership, the appropriate thing APC led government should do is to apologise to Nigerians particularly President Jonathan and members of his 2012 economic team as advised by many Nigerians.
“After apologising, they should (in their temporary stay in power), at least seek to provide good leadership and governance by engaging the people, especially the workers and fashioning out a clear strategy to manage their inconsistent, confusing and annihilating policies.
“In addition, they should launch an investigation into NNPC management of the subsidy regime, the huge oil theft and corruption that have caused Nigeria serious financial crisis with a determination to effectively prosecute all those involved in the subsidy perfidy and fraud.”