The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday described the salary cut by President Muhammadu Buhari and his rejection of the purchase of new official cars as cosmetic.

 It also cautioned the President against what it described as the propaganda of his cosmetic achievement by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which it noted is capable of derailing the smooth running of his administration.

 The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olise Metuh, urged Buhari to focus on addressing burning issues of unemployment, worsening security situation in the country and the declining economy.

 Metuh said; "As the leader of the most populous black nation in the world, we believe you should not allow your Presidency to be pushed into the gimmicks of playing to the gallery and attempting to use the dramatization of promissory notes and pledges by foreign interests, false premature claims of victory against insurgency, dramatization of salary cut and rejection of official cars, all to gain cheap popularity and create an impression that the government is on course when in the actual fact, the new administration has not been able to locate a bearing since its inauguration in May."

 The opposition party said Nigerians cannot be overwhelmed by such gestures especially given that they are pretty aware that the salary is a mere drop in the ocean of personal allowances and privileges that come to the President. ‎

 PDP further said; ”While we appreciate the symbolic gesture by Mr. President in ‘cutting’ his N14 million annual basic salary by 50 percent, it should be noted that Nigerians would not be wavered by the N7million annual donation and rejection of official cars, and forget their expectations for the implementation of his long list of campaign promises for which he was elected into office.

“Nigerians cannot be deluded by impressions aimed to make government appear to be on course when it has only been a case of all motion, no movement, spiced with unnecessary excuses.”

The PDP however said that while one month is too short a time to assess any government, it noted that when the new administration and the APC started rolling out premature scorecards of imaginary achievements, it became necessary for it and indeed most Nigerians to x-ray them.‎

Metuh said Nigerians are not thrilled by such orchestrations as other leaders who at one time or the other adopted similar stance did not dither or become laidback, but hit the ground running with governance.

He also said; "Instead of engaging in pointless propaganda, the APC and the Presidency should be more concerned about the decline in the economy with the continued fall in the value of the naira which has descended from under N200 to the dollar they inherited in May to all time low of N238 even in the face of the President’s promise to bring it to same value with the US Dollar.

“What the citizens want is a government that is urgent in living up to its billings and campaign promises. The people would judge President Buhari by the extent to which he addressed critical issues of governance for which he was voted into power.

“The issue is about the President facing the challenges of governance and assembling his team of experts and capable hands to manage the economy, which has been on the decline since he assumed office. It is also about allowing the different arms of government, especially the National Assembly to work smoothly and encourage conducive democratic environment where the rule of law, personal freedom and security of lives and property are guaranteed.

“Perhaps, we may need to draw Mr. President's attention to the growing concern that under his watch democratic institutions are no longer free. While activities of the National Assembly have been disrupted, the nation’s electoral body has lost its independence due to the appointment of an Acting Chairman that is publicly known to have very strong relationship with your good self and key members of your party. We have also seen flagrant disregard of court orders," PDP stressed.