The breakaway faction of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party said on Tuesday that Nigerians were being extorted by the Federal Government through its numerous agencies.

The faction, otherwise referred to as the ‘New PDP,’ also said that the country had become a crumbling edifice as a result of corruption and bad leadership.

National Chairman of the faction, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, stated this in his message to Nigeria to mark the country’s 53rd Independence anniversary.

In the message, which was signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, Baraje listed other problems confronting the country to include ethnicism, among others.

He said that,  given the mindset of the present government, there was no hope that things would change.

He said, “I salute my fellow country men and women on this special, epochal and historical event of the 53rd Anniversary of our independence and knowing that many of our leaders may prefer to say otherwise but let me state categorically without equivocation that I am very sad that it is a pity that 53 years after independence Nigeria is still a crumbling edifice, wrecked to the seams by corruption, bad leadership, ethnicism, parochialism, sectarian intolerance and childish political recrimination.

“Nigeria at 53 has turned into a borderless valley of tears where life expectancy hovers at between 40 and 43 years.

“Nigerians are callously extorted through various government agencies like the Power Holding Company of Nigeria which today excels in generating darkness and subjecting Nigerians to the highest ever tariff regime. “

He added that the Federal Road Safety Commission, which he said was set up as a well-meaning agency to tame the rising cases of road accidents, had become a tool for mindless extortion through the issuing and re-issuing of vehicle number plates and drivers’ licenses at very exorbitant prices.

He also said that the petroleum sector had equally become an illicit cash cow for the people in government, their friends and relatives who he said exploited the hapless citizens through sundry means.

He said, “What could best demonstrate the wanton brigandage going on in Nigeria than the fact that the government, which set up the SURE-P programme with the huge N32 increment on each litre of fuel Nigerians purchase, has recorded no known achievement with the huge accruals from the increment?

“Today, SURE-P has sacked the 110,000 youths it placed on N10,000 monthly allowances on the excuse that there is no money to pay them.

“We ask, where is the government keeping the huge amount it realises from the inhuman increment in the price of petrol, kerosene and diesel?”

The New PDP, therefore, appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to abandon his second term ambition and concentrate on how to “rescue the sinking Nigerian ship of state if he truly loves Nigeria.”

In its reaction, the main PDP described the faction as unserious, saying it was making caricature of serious issues.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said it was better to ignore the faction.

He said, “We don’t want to reply them. They are making caricature of serious national issues.

“They are entertainers at drinking joints and beer parlours. They should be better ignored. Their statements defy all known political norms and at best provide entertainment for social gatherings.”

 -Punch