PDP chieftain accuses Buhari of increasing poverty in Nigeria

Robinson Ariyo, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of increasing poverty in the country.

Ariyo, who spoke to BDSUNDAY on the sidelinesof the Delta PDP rally in Koko, Warri North council area of the state, said Nigerians have not had it this bad since 1999.

According to Ariyo, “Reliable records have it that Nigeria is now the world headquarters of poverty,” noting that “a lot of Nigerians are feeling the pinch of the hardship.”

He said the common man in the street does not care about what the President is saying because all they wanted to see was food on their table.

“Man is a pleasure-seeking and pain-avoiding being. One thing people want to see, irrespective of the grammar you speak, is food on their table. What the world’s study group has seen is that we have moved far, far below in world poverty index.

“You may not appreciate this until you go out to the streets and see that people don’t have food to eat, people are unable to pay their children’s school fees and their own bills. What is happening now is a revolution by the people. The people are saying that they want things to be better,” Ariyo said.

The PDP chieftain urged the party to take advantage of the pains Nigerians are going through now so that they can wrest power from the ruling APC.

“PDP can key into this because it is the masses that are clamouring for things to change for the better,” Ariyo added.

On security, Ariyo lampooned the Federal Government for lying to Nigerians that it has defeated Boko Haram, while people were dying in their thousands every year.

Ariyo said: “Look at the issue of insecurity in the country. It has become so bad that in a year we lose close to three thousand lives. Now, the terrorists are so bold that they are attacking army barracks. If army bases are fragile and cannot be protected where else and who else can be protected?

“Army bases are supposed to be bases of fortifications with armed trained men. If army bases are so porous and cannot be protected, then the security and lives of Nigerians cannot be guaranteed.