The Presidency has advised the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to stop what it describes as a pathetic effort to play-down President Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements in his first 100 days in office.
Reacting to the PDP statement claiming the economy is going down under the APC-led administration, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, blamed the PDP for the state of the economy.
He said under the PDP administration, the country witnessed an acceleration of poverty, which united Nigerians for change.
According to the President’s aide, “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 also alleged that the defeated former ruling party was artificially manipulating statistics to create the illusion of impressive economic performance.
The media aide said the Buhari-led administration has successfully blocked leakages and other avenues for corruption, practices which he said the previous administration lacked the will or the desire to stop.
The PDP had described as alarming, the damage so far done on the nation’s economy by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC since it took office at the centre, three months ago.
The party said the shambolic state of the nation’s economy within the period, which they alleged represents the worst in the nation’s contemporary history, is a direct fallout of uncertainty created by the inability of the Buhari-led government to chart a clear-cut economic policy, worsened by abuse of regulations, and flagrant violation of constitutional provisions.
It cited a decline in Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with about 2.35 per cent, while at the same time claiming that job creation has dropped by 69 per cent.
