The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that poor leadership has diminished Nigeria’s regional and global influence.
In a statement on Thursday, the opposition party said that under the APC-led Federal Government, Nigeria’s respect and standing on the global stage have progressively declined.
The PDP decried the recent incident involving Nigeria and the Republic of Burkina Faso, in which Nigerian Air Force personnel were detained alongside their aircraft.
It also criticised the partial travel ban imposed by the United States on Nigeria, describing it as the lowest point the country has reached as a result of poor leadership.
The party stressed that even during periods of military rule, Nigeria and its citizens were not subjected to such harsh treatment.
“Things have gone to the point where our Air Force aircraft and personnel were detained for many days in Burkina Faso, until a team led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar visited the country to negotiate their release, despite the initial denial by the Federal Government.
“To make matters worse, the White House has released a statement notifying that the United States of America has implemented a new regime of stronger visa restrictions on Nigerians.
“These restrictions, which affect both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, are based on the rising insecurity in the entire country and the inability of the government to effectively counter the situation, especially in Northern Nigeria. This is a sad commentary on the current leadership of our country, who have paid more attention to politics than governance.
“Rather than comprehensively tackle core security issues, the administration prefers to apply simplistic and tangential solutions and politicise security matters, like the recent uproar about the absurd attempt at promoting the President’s Aide-De-Camp and other presidential security aides.
“Under this administration, it is an undeniable fact that Nigeria’s military capacity has consistently reduced, as shown in the Global Firepower report 2024, where Nigeria dropped to 39th from its earlier 36th position in 2023,” the party said.
