The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday in Abuja welcomed the former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to the 2015 presidential contest.

Mr Olisa Metuh, PDP National Publicity Secretary, however, in a statement, faulted some claims made by the former head of state at the formal declaration of his intention to join the race.

Buhari with APC leaders, governors and senators: PDP tackles on fact checking

“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 Gen. Buhari, Nigeria was generating 4,000 MW 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 1,600 MW.

“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,’’ Metuh said.

He added that it was common knowledge that under the transformative leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria now generated 4,568 MWS of electricity; a triple of what was generated in 1999.

Metuh added that the assertion by Buhari that a growing economy which the PDP inherited in 1999 had been destroyed within 15 years in office does not represent the reality on the ground.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh

The facts, he said, could be verified from the hand-over notes from the military, the World Bank and IMF which stated that Nigeria was the third largest economy in Africa in 1999, behind South Africa and Egypt.

“The nation is also rated number 48 in the world; our Foreign Reserve at 3.6 billion dollars while our foreign debt stood at 36 billion dollars,’’ the PDP spokesman further said.

He added that it was incontrovertible that in the last 15 years of PDP leadership, especially the last three years of purposeful administration provided by President Jonathan, Nigeria’s economy had become the largest in Africa.

The country, Metuh said, was the 26th largest in the world, adding that its Foreign Reserve was now over 39 billion dollars while its foreign debts had reduced to less than 7 billion from 36 billion dollars.

He said the fact remained that in the last 15 years under the PDP and the last three years of vigorous application of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, there had been an unparalleled government input in agriculture.

This, he noted, had made production high while the country`s food import had reduced from N1.1 trillion in 2010 to N684 billion currently.

“We understand that the APC is hell-bent on using every opportunity at its disposal to discredit the PDP in quest for political control.

“We urge their handlers to always cross-check their facts and stop making mockery of respected Nigerians in the mould of Gen. Buhari,’’ Metuh said.

He expressed hope that in the future, Gen. Buhari would not allow himself to be further embarrassed in the course of his political campaign