The Presidency on Sunday described as disgraceful the claim by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Nigerians were fed up with President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and are yearning for the return of the PDP to power in 2023.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said Nigeria wouldl not welcome the PDP which is ‘the university of lies’ to power again.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP Kola Ologbondiyan, in an interview had said having experienced both the PDP and the APC, Nigerians had realised that only the PDP had the interest of the country at heart.

However, Shehu in his response said, “These days, so many people are saying so many things, indulging mostly in the abuses of others and as official spokespersons we make the deliberate choice of staying out for the most part.

“But it is hard to ignore the shameful and disgraceful claims made by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which is making the false claims that Nigerians are dissatisfied with the present and wished for the return to the years of locusts.

“At the rate they are going, it is not farfetched to agree with another politician in describing the PDP as a “university of falsehood”, in which the bigger the lies their functionaries can tell, the higher in rank they are promoted to.

“It is too soon for their evil records to be washed away or forgotten. They held onto the throne of power for 16 years fighting for their own happiness, not that of the majority of Nigerians. They turned the country into a nation of scams promoting corruption to an industrial scale, exploiting the country’s oil, mineral and land resources for selfish reasons.

“PDP’s lasting legacy will be the catastrophe that was the power expansion programme in which USD 16 billion was taken from the treasury without a megawatt of electricity added to the grid system.

“The Buhari-led administration is on the other hand fighting for the happiness of the majority of Nigerians, rebuilding a battered economy, putting in place long-delayed infrastructure and managing a novel Coronavirus pandemic in a very competent and impressive manner as to earn the commendation of the World Health Organization.”

He also said in the 16-year period, a barrel of oil was sold for as high as $140 and the PDP-led FG “blew a golden opportunity to grow the economy to soaring heights. They could have used the enormous earrings to increase power generation, modernise the rail and fix roads and bridges as the present administration is currently struggling, with lesser incomes to do.”

He added, “About 800 road projects are currently ongoing in the six geopolitical zones of the country.

“The malaise of the PDP administration is manifested in the collapse of local food production, replaced by a daily average spending of USD 5 million in rice importation. Today, not a kobo from the Central Bank of Nigeria is used to fund the importation of food. In effect, we eat what we grow. PDP broke the economy by killing industrialization.”

He also said in those 16 years, textile industry, the largest employer was killed and that 38 major textile companies closed down business in Nigeria between 1999 and 2009.

“The nation’s budding industry virtually fled to neighbouring countries – Ghana, Cote D’Ivore and far away Kenya were all transforming into manufacturing hubs at our expense. In 2006, two of Nigeria’s leading tyre manufacturers, Michelin and Dunlop, relocated their factories to Ghana citing epileptic energy supply in Nigeria as the chief reason.”

“Over those 16 years, PDP told stunning tales of economic growth and peddled rates as high as the windmill without industrial growth, without agricultural growth, without investment and without jobs for the teeming youths. In sum total, they gave the nation a lost half-generation.”

Shehu said, “The main reason for the defeat of the PDP in 2015 was corruption. The present administration at the centre led by President Muhammadu Buhari has so far presented a corrupt-free image of itself. It has succeeded in abolishing grand corruption at the top. Today, you are sure that no one will call the governor of central bank and ask him to bring hard cash- naira, pounds, dollars, euro or renminbi.”

“With increased procurement of military aircraft, weapons, equipment and ammunition, the remaining task of ridding Borno State of Boko Haram is well on course.”

“Military procurements and increasing recruitment will ensure the momentum of ridding the Northwestern and North Central States are equally rid of kidnapping, cattle rustling and banditry,” he added.