The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for signing into law Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), as passed by the National Assembly.

The party in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said that President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress have shown ‘disdain and insensitivity to the sufferings of the people of the Niger Delta.’

The party in another statement also decry the call for the re-introduction of toll gates on major highways, describing it as a downright act of wickedness against the suffering masses.

On the PIB PDP said: “The party notes that the signing of the law, despite widespread public rejection, amounts to an endorsement of imposition and further confirms that President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress have no iota of respect for the people as well as the tenets of democracy as a system of government.

“By his action, President Buhari has only authenticated that he is not a listening leader and that the APC and its leaders are only out to trample on the will of Nigerians for their selfish interests.

“In putting his hands to endorse the obnoxious bill, even with its distasteful, paltry &provocative 3 per cent revenue to oil-producing communities, President Buhari and the APC have again displayed disdain and insensitivity to the sufferings of the people of the Niger Delta.

“The PDP holds that such is the height of contempt to oil-producing communities, particularly in the face of the challenges which they face as a result of oil exploration.

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“Noting that Mr. President could have returned the bill to the National Assembly with a request that it is made to address the demands of the oil-producing communities, our party fears that the new law cannot guarantee the desired stability and development in the oil and gas sector as well as respite in the Niger Delta region.

“If anything, the Act, as signed by President Buhari, is a dangerous recipe for avoidable crisis in the sector.

“The PDP calls on President Buhari to salvage the situation by immediately forwarding an amendment bill to the National Assembly to reflect the true wishes and aspirations of every segment of our nation.”

Toll Gates: Stop Imposing More Hardship on Nigerians, PDP Tells APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the contemplations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its government to impose more hardship on Nigerians, through the re-introduction of toll gates on major highways, as a downright act of wickedness against the suffering masses.

The party said, after an extensive consideration, insisted that the move to return the toll gates to allow APC interests to further fleece already impoverished Nigerians, is offensive, vexatious, inflammatory and as such should not be contemplated under any guise whatsoever.

The party asked Nigerians to recall that the PDP administration dismantled the toll gates 18 years ago in order to ease the burden on the people as well as end the corrupt regime of operators.

The PDP therefore completely rejects the return of toll gates, as it will add more economic burden on the people, lead to hike in transport fares, increase in the prices of goods and services as well as provide safe haven for corrupt APC leaders to extort money from innocent Nigerians.

APC’s decision to impose levies on the highway, even after it had increased the pump price of fuel to an extortionate N165 per liter, further confirms that APC is a heartless party that is out to fleece and impose hardship on the people to benefit its leaders.

The PDP observes that with the huge financial resources at the disposal of the APC, its government does not have any justification to impose an extra road tax, particularly in the face of the reckless and unbridled looting of national revenue by its leaders.

This is especially as the APC and its administration have not been able to account for the over N1.4tr allocated for works in addition to over N120 billion collected from Nigerians as motor vehicle license in the last six years.

Moreover, the Buhari Presidency has not taken any step to recover the over N25 trillion reportedly stolen by APC leaders in various revenue generating agencies including the NNPC, NEMA, NPA, FIRS, NIMASA, NDDC, NHIS among others, where culprits are merely “eased out” instead of being prosecuted.

Our party maintains that Nigerians would not have been facing such exacerbated suffering but for APC’s corruption, incompetence, lethargic approach to governance and failure to adopt strategic way to harness and develop our abundant resources to the benefit of the citizens.

The PDP therefore cautions APC leaders not to further push Nigerians to the wall by trying to fleece them with all manners of taxes and levies, having realized they and their fizzling party will soon have no place in governance, come May, 2023.