Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidency has asked the leadership of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to shut up their mouths, describing the achievements in economy which they attributed to former President Goodluck Jonathan under the party as deceptive and fake.
The presidency further advised the PDP to stop what it called the “pathetic efforts to play down President Buhari’s achievements in his first 100 days in office and (that PDP should) bury its head in shame for subjecting Nigeria to the worst economic plunder through corruption in its recent history.”
The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh had, during the week, issued a statement, saying that the nation’s economy is going down under the APC administration, but the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said that the economy of Nigeria was gasping for breath under the corrupt PDP administration before APC came in on a rescue mission.
According to Garba Shehu, the country was witnessing an acceleration of poverty, a situation, he said, led to Nigerians uniting to vote for APC to effect the needed change.
Garba Shehu said that the excruciating hardships experienced by Nigerians under the PDP misrule was unprecedented and that it is ridiculous 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 that the defeated former ruling party was artificially manipulating statistics to create the illusion of impressive economic performance record.
The Presidential media aide made it clear that one falsehood built on another cannot stand, adding that if the PDP claim of economic successes in terms of GDP, employment generation, poverty alleviation and others were genuine, Nigerians would not have voted the party out of power.
Garba Shehu wondered why Nigerians, who PDP said were contented, voted it out of office if its President and other leaders were performing.
He said that the PDP’s assumed performance was nothing more than window dressing and a detachment from reality, adding that no economy can grow with corruption, in which the PDP administration demonstrated more competence.
He made it clear that criticism for its own sake is not the Hallmark of credible opposition, even as he said that Nigerians no longer face exploitation at filling stations as the Buhari’s government is taking punitive measures against marketers that punish poor Nigerians.
Queues, Garba Shehu added, have disappeared at the filling stations as the naira is also enjoying favourable exchange rate.
The Media aide said that the Buhari administration has successfully blocked leakages and other avenues for corruption 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.
Garba Shehu promised that once the trial for corruption begins formally, “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.” [myad]
