Independence anniversary broadcast: Nigerians feel worse than they were in 2023 – PDP

• Says Tinubu is the Pharaoh, not Moses

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The Dr Tanimu Turaki-led Interim National Working Committee, INWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP has said that many Nigerians feel worse today than they did on May 29, 2023.

The party said this in response to the Thursday’s independence anniversary celebration broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja.

The PDP, which noted that the presidency, in its statement, specifically said, “By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone”, said “The country’s situation was darker than ever.”

According to the INWC of the PDP, “While this is true, as admitted by the Presidency, what is sad but even truer is that many Nigerians feel worse today than they did on May 29, 2023”.

The statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Comrade Ini Ememobong reads, “The President issued his Independence Day message across different media platforms.

“The message mirrored the biblical journey of the Israelites through the Red Sea from Egypt, tactically casting the President and his administration as Moses, who is leading the nation from slavery to freedom.

“However, our reality reveals something different. The fact is that Nigerians are travelling through a Red Sea of economic pain caused by insensitive and irresponsible leadership foisted on the country by the All Progressives Congress (APC) since 2015.

“The Presidency, in its statement, specifically said, “By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone.

“The country’s situation was darker than ever.” While this is true, as admitted by the Presidency, what is sad but even truer is that many Nigerians feel worse today than they did on May 29, 2023.

“Yes, Mr. President says Nigerians should not look back, because he knows that is where the truth is.

“But from where Nigerians stand, they are looking at the higher prices of rent, transport fares and school fees that they are grappling with.

“Nowhere is the pain more visible than in the price of food. Food prices remain high and unaffordable for millions of Nigerians.

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food inflation stood at 19.57% in August 2026. That means food prices are still rising, only more slowly, on top of the steep increases that families have already endured. “The one-month dip in August, the first in six months, does not put food back on the table of the average household. In some states, the situation is even more desperate, with food inflation above 35%.

‘For a family spending most of its income on food, these are not mere statistics; they mean empty plates or smaller portions. That is the context that the President and his handlers are afraid of facing, because the receipts are there.

“The President speaks of support for enterprise but ignores the reality that, even after the recent reduction of the Monetary Policy Rate from 26.5% to 23%, the cost of borrowing remains far too high for businesses to thrive.

“The last thing a responsible administration should do is peddle skewed narratives in response to a real-life crisis.

“These facts lead to only one conclusion: that most Nigerians prefer where they were in 2019 to where this administration has put them today.

“The lived experience of Nigerians was far better then than it is now, due largely to the reckless and insensitive economic policies and the unfortunate implementation strategy of the Bola Tinubu/APC-led administration. So clearly, Tinubu and the APC are the Pharaoh who is chasing Nigerians.

“As the elections approach in 2027, Nigerians will have an opportunity to elect their Moses, who should save them from the Pharaoh and the economic pain that they are currently facing.

“This is a Pharaoh who lounges and vacations abroad while the people suffer and grumble endlessly, whereas a Moses stays and goes with his people; he is embedded in, not detached from, the reality of his people.

“Most Nigerians agree that no administration in the history of Nigeria has put the country through the economic pain, polarisation, disunity, insecurity and threat to democratic consolidation as the APC-led Tinubu administration.

“We are therefore hopeful that this year’s Independence Day will provide Nigerians with a reference point for the political engagement that next year’s election offers. Just as the patriots of the struggle for independence fought relentlessly to attain self-rule, Nigerians are determined to courageously fight to send this ruinous Pharaonic administration, led by Bola Tinubu, out of power.

“We know that Nigerians see beyond the political gimmicks and theatrics currently being employed to induce and confuse voters, including the positioning of themselves as the Moses leading a movement from pain to prosperity.

“Nigerians will see them in the real context in which they should be seen: the Pharaoh punishing and pursuing Nigerians. As citizens, we are assured that, like the biblical Israelites, Nigerians will escape the Red Sea and arrive in Canaan, but the pursuing Pharaoh and his team will not”, the statement concluded.

END