THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari failed to address the nation on May 29, being the anniversary of his inauguration day, because he must have assessed his administration as a monumental failure.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, it stressed, “President Buhari must have been persuaded that he had nothing to tell Nigerians and saw reason with our party to avoid making false performance claims, which are wholesomely at variance with reality.

“The President probably did not want to face Nigerians with an empty scorecard and excuses for ruining a once robust economy, for failing to secure the country, for failing to curb endemic corruption in his administration and for mortgaging Nigeria’s future with huge foreign loans.

“Indeed, Mr. President must have been weighed down by his failures, in this fiscal year to harness our resources to provide even half of the 2020 budget formulated by his administration, for which the All Progressives Congress (APC) is ready to pawn the country’s future to foreign creditors.

“These situations accounted for the Presidency’s decision to hide behind a 62-page false performances literature instead of allowing President Buhari to face Nigerians.

“What soothing words could Mr. President have for over 40 million Nigerians who had lost their jobs following the failure of his administration to run a viable economy and the over 500,000 N-power beneficiaries, whose engagements are set to be terminated barely a year after they were used to campaign for a second tenure for the APC.”

The PDP also argued that President Buhari was equally confronted with the killings in Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara and other states by marauders, kidnappers and insurgents despite claims that the assailants have been roundly defeated.

It added that there were no success stories in the APC administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was marred by allegations of corruption and political parochialism, which frustrated an all-inclusive multi-sectoral approach in the effort to cushion the effects of the pandemic on Nigerians.

Most Nigerians appreciate President Buhari’s decision not to address the nation and fall into the temptation of making false performance claims, adding that doing so would have further embarrassed his administration.

“The PDP however charges the President to use the remaining three years of his tenure to brace up for the demands of his office in the overall interest of the nation,” it said.