The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sunday has cautioned the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, against what it described as travislising and politicizing the “frightening unemployment level” under its watch.
In a statement signed by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP accused the ruling party of being an Automated Lying Machine, “which has never been interested in the welfare of Nigerians”.
According to Mr Ologbondiyan, “it is shameful that in its attempt to deny that the number of unemployment persons and job losses across the formal and informal sectors had surged under its administration, the APC forgot that the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, had earlier disclosed that unemployment rate was at a frightening 23.1 per cent while raising alarm that the rate will hit a devastating 33.5 per cent in the new year, 2020.
“The APC also forgot that the minister, Ngige, while declaring open a two-day workshop on high unemployment rate earlier in the year, reportedly described the situation as scary and further alerted that apart from the swelling unemployment rate, underemployment had also surged to 16.6 per cent.
“The APC also chose not to remember that the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in an earlier report, stated that 16 million Nigerians (which has now risen to 18 million) were unemployed, 18 million more were underemployed while another 27.44 million, reportedly refused to work in 2016 for various reasons not unrelated to frustration in the polity under the APC administration.
“It is completely unpardonable that rather than accepting the truth and seeking for a solution to the looming unemployment Armageddon, the APC seeks to trivialize and politicize a serious national problem.
“Such crass irresponsibility was never exhibited and could never have been allowed under a PDP-controlled federal government.
“It is indeed shameful that at a time well-meaning Nigerians are worried about the situation and seeking for solutions, the APC and its government are bent on justifying their looting of our national resources as well as rationalizing their under-the-table system of selective employment of a few, which favours only their cronies at the expense of majority of Nigerian youth.
“Today, under the APC, Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ employment letters are sold far beyond the reach of the children of regular Nigerians while the APC government gloats.
“Instead of solutions, the APC in its vindictiveness relishes in harassing and victimizing hardworking Nigerian entrepreneurs, who are excelling in productive sectors including aviation, telecommunication, banking, manufacturing, construction, retail, real estate, power, oil and gas, hospitality among others, established under the robust economic policies of the past PDP administrations.
“Rather than seeking for a scapegoat where there is none, the APC should confess its sins and make haste to return the over N14 trillion stolen under its watch including the stolen N9 trillion exposed in the leaked Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC memo.
“This is in addition to the mindless looting in agencies including National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.
“The APC should also take responsibility for the mortgaging of our nation with the $83 billion debt accumulated by its administration.”
