The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not leave behind a $550bn economy when it lost power to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015.
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that the claim by the party’s leaders is at variance with facts on ground.
“While we know that PDP elements are used to pulling numbers from the air, we did not expect that they would cook up figures on the state of the economy in May 2015 to deceive Nigerians.
“It all began in December last year with former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka dropping the cooked figure on PDP-era economy, before governors elected on the party platform jumped on it.
“Now it is surprising that the PDP Chairman Iyorchia Ayu who postures as an academic has also jumped on the bandwagon when he could have put his research skills into use.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria’s GDP figure in 2015 was $486bn, not the $550bn that the opposition party is bandying around like a badge of honor.
“We make bold to say that virtually all the data the party rolls out are contrived to deceive unsuspecting Nigerians”, the statement added.
BMO argued that contrary to the rosy picture that PDP chieftains had been painting, the economy was on a decline at the time that President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in.
“We want to place it on record that no fewer than 27 States were finding it difficult to pay staff salaries as at 2014 and it was not until the APC-led administration came on board that the States were given bailouts to stay afloat.
“And just a year earlier in 2013, Nigeria’s poverty figure was 112m out of a population of 165m people, according to World Bank figures. Today, the Buhari administration has cycled millions of people out of poverty with the figure now put at about 88m.
“Yes, a large chunk of the country’s debt was paid off by a PDP administration in 2006, but as at May 2015, Nigeria’s public debt was $63bn even when the country made $381.9bn from crude oil sales alone between 2010 and May 2015.
“We again challenge PDP leaders to show Nigerians how they spent what the country realised as well as funds in the Excess Crude Account because there is indeed little or no infrastructure to show for the oil boom era”.
BMO urged Nigerians to continue to reject the former ruling party because, according to the pro-Buhari group, it has nothing to offer.
