The Director General for the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council in Kwara, Prof. Ali Ahmad, has appealed to aggrieved protesters from across the country, particularly in Kwara State, to remain calm and maintain peace so as not to worsen the growing tension over the hardship faced by residents over the on-going scarcity of fuel and the change of currency in the country.
In a press statement made available to Just Event Online TV by the Director-General through his Media Assistant, Sulaiman Abdulwaheed Olamilekan, Ahmad called on the residents to rather direct their grievances to vote out the APC-led administration at the February 25 and March 11 general elections.
The statement reads, “We have monitored the viral videos of the ongoing protest in various areas of Kwara State by aggrieved residents over the hardship resulting from the insensitive, poor planning, and lack of focus by the APC-led Administration in the country.
“We in the Kwara State PDP empathise with our people and we understand the hardship they are experiencing over the scarcity of fuel and the inability to access cash for their legitimate business transactions.
“It is however important that we do not allow the legitimate protest to be seized by hoodlums who might intend to exploit the situation to cause further crisis and endanger the lives and property of residents. That is why we advise that the residents direct their anger to reject the APC and all its candidates at the polls as a way of showing their displeasure with a government that has failed the people on all fronts.
“Nigerians will recall that the hardship being experienced now are not only unprecedented but they are also direct products of cluelessness and lack of proper planning, all of which never happened when the PDP was in power.
“We also use this opportunity to appeal to the various government agencies responsible for handling issues of fuel and currency supply and circulation to step up their games, think out of the box and respond positively to the yearnings of the people. They must immediately devise new methods of supplying the new currency notes and fuel so as to make the items easily available for the people. We must alleviate the suffering of the people because government exists to serve the people and continuously improve their standard of living,” Prof Ali added.
He also urged the security agencies in the state to carefully and efficiently manage the situation so as to protect all lives and properties and to ensure that criminally minded people, mischief makers, and political manipulators do not turn the situation into a partisan game.