The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Wednesday it was pleased to welcome to the 2015 presidential contest, General Muhammadu Buhari who had declared his ambitions earlier in the day. It however hastened to correct what it called “some distortions and misrepresentation of facts” in the speech of the former Head of State.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Wednesday it was pleased to welcome to the 2015 presidential contest, General Muhammadu Buhari who had declared his ambitions earlier in the day.
It however hastened to correct what it called “some distortions and misrepresentation of facts” in the speech of the former Head of State, beginning with electricity generation, which General Buhari put at 4000mw in 1999, but has fallen short of that capacity under the PDP.
“The fact remains that as at May 29th 1999 when PDP took office, Nigeria was generating 1600 mws,” National Publicity Olisa Metuh said in a statement. “We urge Nigerians to fact-check on this. Corroboration of this figure can also be sought from the World Bank, the IMF and multiple other authoritative sources.”
Metuh said that under the “transformative leadership” of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria now generates 4568mw, three times what he said it was in 1999.
“Again, General Muhammadu Buhari stated that a growing economy which the PDP inherited in 1999 has been destroyed within 15 years in office. This also does not represent the reality on the ground.
“The fact which can be verified from the hand-over notes from the military as well as from the World Bank and IMF is that Nigeria was the third largest economy in Africa in 1999, behind South Africa and Egypt. The nation was also rated number 48 in the world, our Foreign Reserve at $3.6 Billion while our foreign debt stood at $36 billion.”
He described as “incontrovertible” the position that in the last 15 years of PDP leadership, especially the last few under Mr. Jonathan, Nigeria's economy has become the largest in Africa and the 26th largest in the world, with her foreign reserves now over $39 billion dollars, and our foreign debts reduced to less than $7 billion, down from $36 billion.
Metuh similarly contested General Buhari’s position concerning the damage done to the agricultural sector by the PDP, arguing that on the contrary, the “Agricultural Transformation Agenda” has see food-production at an all-time high, and Nigeria’s food import reduced from N1.1 trillion in 2010 to N684 billion.
“While we understand that the APC is hell-bent on using every opportunity at its disposal to discredit the PDP in quest for political control, we urge their handlers to always cross-check their facts and stop making mockery of respected Nigerians in the mould of General Buhari,” the statement said.