Buhari to Jonathan: My achievements are real, not lies

President Muhammadu Buhari has told his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan that his administration has recorded concrete and verifiable achievements since he assumed office in 2015.
Buhari was responding to a statement credited to former President Jonathan last week that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government has performed abysmally.
Jonathan had alleged that the Buhari administration has continued to feed Nigerians with lies and has deployed hi-tech propaganda to cover up its misrule.
The former president also attacked the Buhari government for failing to fix the power sector.
But, Buhari who spoke yesterday at the opening of a two-day Nigeria Governors’ Forum conference for media handlers of states’ chief executives in Abuja said his administration has delivered in every aspect of the nation’s life.
Represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the president challenged his predecessor to tell Nigerians what his government did with the huge sums of money (claimed to have been paid as fuel subsidy during his regime.) that accrued to the country from fuel subsidy during his regime.
“Those who accused this administration of ‘propaganda and lies’ in the fuel supply sector, for example, did not tell Nigerians that whereas they paid between N800 billion and N1.3 trillion as ‘subsidy’ yearly in their time, without making the products available, even at regulated prices. This administration is not paying any subsidy, yet all products are currently available at competitive prices and fuel queues are now history.
“In their time, they paid subsidy of N3.7 billion daily in 2011; N2.2 billion daily in 2012 and 2013, and N2.5 billion daily in 2014, all for products that were never available,” the president noted.
According to Buhari, those who accused his government of ‘propaganda and lies’ failed to see the achievements recorded in the power sector.
He noted that when his administration assumed office on May 29, 2015, available power on the grid was 2,690MW while transmission capacity was around 5,000MW and distribution capacity was 4,000MW.
“As at September 4, 2017, the available power that can be put on the grid was 6,619MW; the transmission capacity was simulated at 6,700 MW (up from 5,000 MW in 2015) but the distribution capacity was 4,600 MW, which was what was put on the grid. On September 12, 2017, production of power reached an all-time level of 7,001MW,” he added.
Buhari said it is an irony that those who presided over a budget of N18 billion for roads, N5 billion for power and N1.8 billion for housing in 2015 now accused his government that spent N198.25 billion on roads, N91.2 billion on power and N71.559 billion on housing, of non-achievement.
“Because of the increased spending in these areas, the massive debts owed to contractors are being settled so they can recall workers who were laid off and re-open closed work sites.
“As a matter of fact, during the implementation of the 2016 budget, we paid 103 construction companies executing 192 projects and they, in turn, employed 17,749 people directly and 52,000 people indirectly in works.
“So far this year, N47.169 billion has been paid to 62 contractors working on 149 projects to continue work on roads and bridges and keep people at work.
“Similar, payments are being made to supervising consultants and to contractors in housing and power sectors of the ministry,” he added.
Buhari also highlighted the achievements of his administration in the area of the economy, leading to the continuous fall of inflation for eight consecutive months.
He remarked that foreign exchange reserves have risen to $32 billion from $24 billion a year ago, while oil production is at nearly two million barrels per day.
The president added that home-grown School Feeding Programme is now being implemented in 17 states through which over three million public primary school children are benefiting.
He said close to 200,000 youths are now benefiting from the N-Power programme, which recruits unemployed graduates to work as teachers, agricultural extension workers and health extension workers while government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), which provides micro-credit to farmers, traders and artisans, now has in excess of one million beneficiaries, with women accounting for 56 per cent of that number, adding that about $1.8 billion, the capital inflows in the second quarter of 2017, were almost double the $908 million in the first quarter.
“If our achievements are based on ‘propaganda and lies,’ as they claim, why is our agricultural revolution achieving so much success?
“We have commissioned the 120,000 MT per annum WACOT rice mill in Argungu, Kebbi State. We have commissioned the 60,000 MT per annum Edo State Fertilizer Company Limited.
“What about the commissioning of OLAM’s 750,000 MT per annum Integrated Poultry Facility in Kaduna State? Do you know that 15 moribund Fertilizer Blending Plants have now been revived and in operation across Nigeria, under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, creating 50,000 direct jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs?” the president asked.
He said when the administration assumed office in 2015, Boko Haram was active in at least 10 states, could stroll into Abuja at a time and target their own, choosing to cause maximum havoc, in addition to holding territories and collecting taxes.
“Today, Boko Haram has been so degraded that it lacks the capacity to carry out any organised attack, while also increasingly losing the capacity to even attack soft targets. Importantly, Boko Haram no longer holds and territory.
“The same vigour is being used to address the herdsmen-farmers’ clash, kidnapping for ransom and other crimes,” Buhari stated.