The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday for his 2022 Christmas message, in which he praised himself for achieving “advances” on the “economic front” and “food security.”
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, criticised the President in a statement for his self-commendation when his administration’s economic policies and high cost of living had forced 130 million Nigerians into multifaceted poverty.
“The advances we have made so far on the economic front, especially in infrastructure; food security, anti-corruption, security, energy sufficiency, among others, will need to be built on,” Buhari said in his Christmas message on Saturday.
The President has, according to HURIWA’s Onwubiko, put Nigerians more behind than when he first saw them in May 2015.
“The statistics clearly show that Buhari has impoverished Nigerians with his ineptitude in all ramifications. According to the data by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s inflation rate in May 2015 when Buhari took over leadership was 9.0%.
“But the country’s inflation rate rose to 21.47% in November from 21.09% recorded in October, representing the 10th consecutively monthly increase since the start of the year, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“Food inflation also rose to 24.13% in November 2022 from 23.72% recorded in the previous month. Exchange rate of the Nigeria to the dollar is now N446.63 at the official rate while at over N700 at the black market rate. Whereas it was at about N150/$1 when Buhari came into office seven and a half years ago.
“Now, NBS data showed that over 23 million agile and active adult Nigerians are jobless just the Federal Government has used multiple taxation to murder businesses who now relocate to neighbouring nations.
“Of note, Buhari has plunged the nation into unprecedented loans. He has approved many external loans for the Niger Republic project. Reports by the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria’s total external debt rose from $10.32bn on June 30, 2015, to $40.06bn as at June 30, 2022, over 288.18 per cent increase in seven years.
“Buhari has no moral right to tell Nigerians that he has advanced the citizens’ fortunes on the economic fronts because HE HAS FAILED WOEFULLY. Therefore, his Christmas message to the same people his government pushed into poverty makes no meaning and is simply a mere propaganda.”
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