The presidency has sated that the PDP assumed performance was nothing more than window dressing, and a detachment from reality.
The presidency has told the PDP to stop its pathetic efforts to
play down President Buhari’s achievements in his first 100 days in
office and bury its head in shame for subjecting Nigeria to the worst
economic plunder through corruption in its recent history.
Reacting to a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that the economy has been going down under the
APC administration; the Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said Nigerian economy 'was gasping for
breath under the egregiously corrupt PDP administration, and that the
country was witnessing an acceleration of poverty which united Nigerians
for change'.
According Mr. Shehu, “the excruciating hardships experienced by
Nigerians under the PDP misrule was unprecedented, it is ridiculous to
for any sane government to artificially rebase the economy and claim to
transform Nigeria into the largest economy in Africa as the PDP
administration did”.
He said the former ruling party was artificially manipulating
statistics to create the illusion of impressive economic performance
record.
According to the presidential spokesperson, one falsehood built on
another cannot stand, adding that if the PDP’s claim of economic
successes in terms of GDP, employment generation, poverty alleviation
and others were genuine, Nigerians wouldn’t have voted the party out of
power.
Mr. Shehu wondered which contented electorate would have voted a
performing party out of office. He explained that if the former ruling
party was doing so well, the opposition parties would have found it
difficult to defeat a popular ruling party.
Mr. Shehu said that the PDP assumed performance was nothing more
than window dressing, and a detachment from reality. He said no economy
can grow with corruption, an area in which the PDP administration
demonstrated more competence.
The presidency said criticism for its own sake is not the hallmark of credible opposition.
According to Mr. Shehu, "Nigerians no longer face exploitation
at filling stations because the government is taking punitive measures
against marketers that punish poor Nigerians".
He noted that queues had disappeared at filling stations, adding that the naira is also enjoying favourable exchange rate.
The media aide said the Buhari administration had successfully
blocked leakages and other avenues for corruption, practices which he
said the previous PDP administration lacked the will or the desire to
stop.
As a result of the measures to block leakages, he said the Buhari
administration has frustrated the efforts by corrupt elements to divert
public funds to private pockets.
Mr. Shehu said once the trial of corrupt officials formally begins, "the
PDP might no longer have the moral legs to stand on, let alone talk
down on Nigerians with fake claims of economic miracles under its most
incompetent and grossly purposeless and sleazy administration".