conduct his presidential campaign with regard for the truth.
The President in a statement, Thursday, signed by Reuben Abati, Special
Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) rejected the claims by Buhari
during his declaration on the economy and Jonathan’s government.
Read thus
“We have noted with disappointment and regret, the reckless, baseless and
unsupportable charges made against the Jonathan’s Administration yesterday
by a supposed elder Statesman, General Muhammadu Buhari.
We wholly reject the allegations made by General Buhari against the
Jonathan’s administration at yesterday’s declaration of his intention to
contest the 2015 presidential elections as an irresponsible denigration of
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s sincere efforts, over the past four
years, to positively transform Nigeria.
It reflects very badly on the character of the political opposition we now
have in Nigeria, that a political leader of General Buhari’s stature will
deliberately make such false and uncharitable comments about the elected
leadership of his country, merely for personal and sectional political
gain.
The falsity of General Buhari’s anti-Jonathan and anti-PDP claims will be
obvious to knowledgeable Nigerians and friends of the country, but for the
benefit of others we will like to affirm that there is absolutely no truth
whatsoever in his charge that “the last 16 years of PDP Government has
witnessed a decline in all critical sectors of life in Nigeria” or that
“the economy continues to deteriorate”.
Statistics and rankings from the National Bureau of Statistics, the
Central Bank of Nigeria, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund
and other international economic agencies give the lie to General Buhari’s
claims on the state of the Nigerian economy.
As is well known, available figures, statistics and ratings show that the
Nigerian economy has consistently maintained an unprecedented growth rate
of 6-7% under the Jonathan administration. They also show that the
Nigerian economy is now the leading economy in Africa and the 26th largest
in the world with a gross domestic product of over $500 billion per annum.
Also contrary to General Buhari’s assertion yesterday, Nigeria’s
agricultural sector is thriving under the reforms being implemented by the
Jonathan administration as current production figures show and neither
manufacturing nor commerce is “down” as the APC presidential aspirant
alleged.
His most uncharitable and inexcusable accusation against the present
administration was that election rigging continues to thrive in Nigeria.
We trust that all patriotic, objective and non-partisan Nigerians will
reject that allegation knowing it to be invalid and they will have the
evidence of the progressively freer, fairer and ever more credible
elections conducted under the Jonathan administration to support their
position.
Despite the other false accusations General Buhari made against the
President who he clearly fears to take on in an honest, issues-driven
presidential election contest, President Jonathan will continue to carry
forward his transformation agenda in the power sector and other areas.
The President will not be discouraged or deterred from his objective of
repositioning Nigeria for accelerated and inclusive socio-economic
development by the partisan and jaundiced views of power seekers like
General Buhari who cannot see the obvious results of the current
administration’s efforts through their blinkered eyes.
We also draw the attention of Nigerians to the total lack of originality
in the hackneyed manifesto offered to Nigerians yesterday by the APC
Presidential aspirant.
All that General Buhari promises to do are already being done by the
Jonathan Administration to the acclaim of ordinary Nigerians and there is
no evidence before Nigerians that the APC leader and his acolytes can do
them better.
The retired General is free to renege on his well-publicized pledge not to
seek elective office as he has done, but we urge him to conduct his
presidential campaign with greater regard for the truth.
We also urge him to eschew unbecoming false accusations against others
like a true elder statesman and to focus his campaign on more original
ideas for the promotion of peace, stability, unity and progress in our
beloved nation.”
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