The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has hit back at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for blaming President Bola Tinubu’s administration for the economic hardship that led to the scramble for foodstuff and palliatives by poor Nigerians.
No fewer than 65 persons, mostly children, were reported dead during stampedes that occurred last week in Ibadan, Oyo State; Okija in Anambra; and Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Reacting to the development, the PDP had described the tragedies as the price the victims had to pay for Tinubu’s “anti people economic policies”
However, in a statement on Monday, the spokesman for the APC, Felix Morka, reminded the PDP of the stampede that occured at the Abuja stadium in 2014 during a recruitment exercise by the Nigeria Immigration Service. About 16 job seekers died in the stampede.
Morka said at a time the nation was grieving over recent stampedes that claimed innocent lives, the PDP seized the moment to engage in callous political chicanery.
The statement said, “Rather than genuinely commiserate with the victims and their families, the PDP chose to politicize the grief of the victims by blaming the stampedes on the All Progressives Congress APC-led administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The tragedies have brought together all well meaning Nigerians in mourning and sober reflection on how the incidents might have been avoided through better planning and organization by all involved. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families.
“It is grossly indecent, insensitive and despicable for the PDP to exploit these tragic incidents in a senseless attack against the administration that has devoted itself to fixing the ruins of nearly two decades of PDP administration.
“Nigerians have not forgotten the tragic stampede at the ill-fated Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise in 2014 at the Abuja stadium, under the watch of the PDP administration, that left many desperate job seekers dead and scores injured. The PDP’s allegations only remind us of its sordid record of maladministration and utter incompetence.”