National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, on Saturday, February 14, 2015 said that the unprecedented achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan in the economic sector will place him and the PDP in good stead ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
Mu’azu spoke via a press statement signed by his Press Secretary, Tony Amadi, positing that Nigeria’s current ranking as the biggest economy in Africa was not by propaganda or fluke.
Parts of the statement read: “Whether anyone likes it or not, it is the performance of the Peoples Democratic Party in the economy that will give us the cutting edge to victory in the 2015 Presidential, gubernatorial and other parliamentary elections next month.
“Nigeria didn’t just become the biggest economy in Africa by propaganda or by any fluke. It happened because of a deliberate plan by the Jonathan administration to bolster the economic standing of our country.
“I challenge the opposition to a debate on the economy, the very crucial indices for measurement of a successful government seeking re-election in most advanced democracies of the world.
“That our economy is rated above South Africa is not therefore a miracle, it was the target that President Jonathan gave the economic team led by our Minister of Finance Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and they achieved the objective with flying colours.”
“It was the economic team that spearheaded the intensification of agricultural solution to the diversification of our political economy from oil to food and agricultural production on a large scale.
“This is why our country is now producing enough food to feed the nation, exporting the excess and earning foreign exchange. PDP controlled states have tapped into the Federal Government food programme resulting in Dry Season farming, heavy rice production in states with natural advantages in food production.
Mu’azu further commended the President Jonathan administration for investing hugely in states controlled by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the spirit of impartiality.
He continued: “I want to take the opportunity of this press statement to appeal to the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, better known as PIB because of the added boost it will give the economy.”
“Our opponents in this election have no clue on economic management. The APC have never told us how they will change a winning economic formula that is already on ground and acknowledged worldwide. What they intend to do to our economy is to return it to the archaic counter trade formula that they used to run down the economy when their presidential candidate called the shots at Dodan Barracks as head of state in 1985.”
Berating the comments by General Muhammadu Buhari, when he said that he should not be judged by his records as military head of state, Mu’azu said, “They say we should not judge them on their past record, but how else can they be judged other than through the work they have done in the past. The Jonathan administration is proud of its past record and is happy to be judged by it. Why will an Opposition party who claim that they are agents of change not be judged on their past record in government.
“What change can they produce without reference to their past record? As far as the economy of Nigeria is concerned today, the present administration of President Jonathan is running on a clear record of good performance and should be voted in for a second term.”
