The Peoples Democratic Party says its is pleased to welcome to the 2015 presidential contest, the former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who declared his intention on Wednesday in Abuja.
While congratulating and wishing him well in his ambition, the party in a statement signed by its National Publiicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said it noted what it described as some distortions and misrepresentation of facts in his speech.
Metuh said the party would like to put the record straight.
He said, “According to Buhari, Nigeria was generating 4000 mws of electricity in 1999 but has today fallen short of that capacity under the PDP.
“However, the fact remains that as at May 29th 1999 when PDP took office, Nigeria was generating 1600MW. We urge Nigerians to fact-check on this.
“Corroboration of this figure can also be sought from the World Bank, the IMF and multiple other authoritative sources.
“In contrast, it is common knowledge that under the transformative leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria now generates 4568MW of electricity; a triple of what was generated in 1999.”
He said that Buhari also stated that a growing economy which the PDP inherited in 1999 had been destroyed within 15 years in office.
This, he said, did not represent the reality on the ground.
Metuh said the fact which he said could be verified from the hand-over notes from the military as well as from the World Bank and IMF was that Nigeria was the third largest economy in Africa in 1999, behind South Africa and Egypt.
He said the nation was also rated number 48 in the world, while the Foreign Reserve stood at $3.6bn and foreign debt stood at $36bn. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Muhammad Buhari
ReplyDeleteAlternate title: Muhammadu Buhari
Written by The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
Muhammad Buhari, Muhammad also spelled Muhammadu (born Dec. 17, 1942, Daura, Nigeria), Nigerian military leader and politician, who served as head of state (1984–85).
Educated largely in Katsina, Buhari took military training in Kaduna as well as in Great Britain, India, and the United States. He was involved in the military coup that ousted Yakubu Gowon in 1975 and was appointed military governor of North Eastern state (now Borno) that same year. He was appointed federal commissioner for petroleum resources by Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who became military head of state when Gowon’s successor, Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated in 1976. By 1977 Buhari had become the military secretary at Supreme Military Headquarters, which was the seat of government. By September 1979 he had returned to regular army duties and commanded a division based in Kaduna. Although elected government had returned to Nigeria in 1979, dissatisfaction with what the military perceived as corrupt politicians led to another military coup on Dec. 31, 1983, and Buhari was chosen unanimously to be the new head of state.
Insurmountable economic problems plagued the Buhari regime as petroleum prices collapsed in the face of expanding foreign debt. Buhari instituted austerity measures that caused severe hardship to the average Nigerian. In addition, political corruption continued unabated, with politicians escaping to Western countries with millions of dollars in government money. In an effort to stop dissension, Buhari instituted restrictions on the press, political freedoms, and trade unionists. By August 1985 even the military had had enough, and Ibrahim Babangida took control of the government. Buhari was detained in Benin City but was released at the end of 1988.