Stop boasting about economy achievement - Presidency tells PDP

•Bury your head in shame, presidency tells PDP

The Presidency yesterday asked the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to bury its head in shame instead of bragging about fake economic achievements while in power.

PDP and APC

It said while the PDP was in power, the economy was gasping for breath under the egregiously corrupt administration.

It said if the former ruling party was doing so well, the opposition parties would have found it difficult to defeat a popular ruling party.

The presidency blasted the PDP in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu.

The statement was a reaction to the PDP’s claim, through its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, that the economy was going down under the APC.

The statement said: “The presidency has advised 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.

“The  economy of Nigeria 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.

“The  excruciating hardship 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 explained that the defeated former ruling party was artificially manipulating statistics to create the illusion of impressive economic performance record.

He added: “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 wouldn’t have voted the party out of power.

“If the former ruling party was doing so well, the opposition parties would have found it difficult to defeat a popular ruling party.

Malam Garba Shehu said that the PDP assumed performance was nothing more than window dressing, and a detachment from reality.

The Presidential spokesman said: “No economy can grow with corruption, an area in which the PDP administration demonstrated more competence.

“Criticism for its own sake is not the Hallmark of credible opposition.

“Nigerians no longer face exploitation at filling stations because the government is taking punitive measures against marketers that punish poor Nigerians.

“Queues have disappeared at the filling stations and the Naira is also enjoying favourable exchange rate.

The Media aide said the Buhari administration has 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, the Buhari administration has frustrated the efforts by corrupt elements to divert public funds to private pockets.

“Once the formal 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.”

Stop boasting about economy achievement - Presidency tells PDP