"If anything, the speech conveyed to Nigerians the high level of hypocrisy, deceit and lack of empathy which has become the guiding principle of the APC administration which Tinubu leads."
The Labour Party (LP) has described President Bola Tinubu's New Year day broadcast to Nigerians as an arrogant display of dishonesty and disregard for citizens of the country.
The party stated this in a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh.
President Tinubu in his New Year's broadcast to the nation on Monday, among several pledged and reiterated his commitment to deliver on his electoral promises to Nigerians.
He also urged his political opponents to work with him since elections are over.
"In this new year, let us resolve that as joint-heirs to the Nigerian Commonwealth, we will work for the peace, progress and stability of our country. I extend this call to my political opponents in the last election. Election is over. It's time for all of us to work together for the sake of our country," the president said.
Hollow speech
In reaction, the LP said like most right-thinking Nigerians, it is appalled by the hollowness of Mr Tinubu's New Year speech.
It said the speech was a display of hypocrisy, deceit and lack of empathy.
"If anything, the speech conveyed to Nigerians the high level of hypocrisy, deceit and lack of empathy which has become the guiding principle of the All Progressives Congress administration which Tinubu leads," the party said.
It further stated that, "It is depressing to note that the president and his handlers didn't deem it fit to include a word of comfort for the families of over 200 persons killed by terrorists during the Christmas eve massacre in Plateau State. What a shame."
Accusations
The party alleged that Mr Tinubu's helplessness in the face of his glaring failure to address the critical issues of insecurity, decayed infrastructure, collapse of the manufacturing and productive sectors, inflation and the Naira to Dollar exchange rate which is spiralling out of control is written all over the speech.
According to the statement, there was no word about the alleged massive looting of the nation's resources by appointees and party leaders in various sectors.
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The LP noted that most disturbing for it is the president's false claim that, "everything I have done in office, every decision I have taken and every trip I have undertaken outside the shores of our land, since I assumed office on 29 May 2023, have been done in the best interest of our country.
"What a despicable form of deceit," it said, querying how Mr Tinubu's ill-advised decision on fuel subsidy removal without a plan to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians translates to an action taken in the national interest.
"Of what benefit was the millions of the nation's dwindling foreign reserves frittered away under the guise of attending the climate change summit in Dubai to Nigerians?," the statement noted.
LP also wondered the Tinubu administration would begin to repair the damage being done to "our democratic institutions such as the Judiciary, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC among others by the APC Administration?"
"While we call for prayers for our nation in this critical point of our history, we will continue to call on the National Assembly to look beyond party lines and ensure that the spirit and the letter of our constitution is upheld at all times," the party said.
