By Henry Umoru

ABUJA—NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, described the formal declaration of former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, for the 2015 presidential race as a welcome development.

While welcoming General Buhari again to the presidential race, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, however, faulted Buhari’s claims on the state of the nation and urged him to put the records straight.

Metuh said, “The Peoples Democratic Party is pleased to welcome to the 2015 presidential contest, the former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, who declared his intention today, Wednesday, October 15, 2014. While we congratulate and wish him well in his ambition, we have noted some distortions and misrepresentation of facts in his speech and consequently wish to put the record straight.

“According to General 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 29, 1999 when PDP took office, Nigeria was generating 1600 mws. We urge Nigerians to check the facts 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 4568 mws of electricity; a triple of what was generated in 1999.

“Again, General Muhammadu Buhari stated that a growing economy which the PDP inherited in 1999 has been destroyed within 15 years in office. This also does not represent the reality on the ground. The fact which can be verified from the hand-over notes from the military as well as from the World Bank and IMF is that Nigeria was the third largest economy in Africa in 1999, behind South Africa and Egypt. The nation was also rated number 48 in the world, our Foreign Reserve at $3.6 billion while our foreign debt stood at $36 billion.

“However, it is incontrovertible that in the last 15 years of PDP leadership, especially the last three years of dynamic and purposeful administration provided by President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s economy has become the largest in Africa and the 26th largest in the world. Similarly, our Foreign Reserves is now over $39 billion dollars, and our foreign debt has reduced to less than $7 billion from $36 billion.