Nigeria’s total non-oil export stood at $2.9 million in 2013 which declined to $2.7m in 2014. In 2012 export growth was 7.3% which went up to 13.7% in 2013 and later crashed to 8.6% in 2014. At best, Cocoa only brought in a total in $1.2 billion in the two years. This translated to $758 million in 2013 and $666 million in 2014.”
These official figures were obtained by All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Organisation, from the Federal Ministry of Trade and Commerce but which it said Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government falsified in its favour.
In a statement, Director of Media and Publicity for the APC Presidential campaign organisation, Garba Shehu described as untenable fallacy and sheer cock-and-bull story the featuring of such falsified report in a paid newspaper advertisement.
He wondered why the Jonathan-led PDP would go so low as to tell lie that the government diversified the economy and grew the non-oil export sector and enhanced the national economy by 300 percent.
He said that an advertorial placed by the “Forum for Economic Progress” claiming that “non-oil export has increased by 300 percent and that Cocoa had brought revenue of over $2 billion in the last two years,” is a “blatant lies and bandied poor spin-doctoring by a dying PDP regime clawing to undesirable straws.”
Garba Shehu said that the misinformation about imaginary growth in the non oil sector “falls within the PDP’s narratives of deceit, mischief and clever-by-half communication mannerisms; same as the tissues of lies being exhibited on fuel scarcity, power sector, security, employment, public health and a host of others.
“The Jonathanians blame everyone and anything in sight except themselves for the avoidable precarious condition they have thrown our once prosperous nation.” [myad]