World Bank report on poverty has exposed you, PDP tells Buhari

Opposes Onochie’s nomination as INEC commissioner

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, insisted that the World Bank report detailing that seven million Nigerians have been pushed into poverty in the last one year, had belied the “integrity posturing” of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It stated that the “falsehood and propaganda by President Muhammadu Buhari about having lifted over 10 million Nigerians out of poverty in the last two years has been exposed.”

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, asserted that the revelation had further vindicated its position that the President runs an “uncoordinated and clueless administration that thrives on lies, false performance claims, deceit and perfidious propaganda.”

PDP added: “Nigerians can now clearly see why the APC and President Buhari’s handlers are always in a frenzy to attack our party and other well-meaning Nigerians whenever we point to the poor handling of the economy and the need for the President to always be factual on pertinent issues of governance in our country.”

“It indeed appears that Mr. President enjoys living in denial, while watching millions of Nigerians go down in abject poverty, excruciating hunger and starvation, as our country now ranks 98th out of 107 in Global Hunger Index under his watch. ”

The main opposition party expressed shock that the Nigerian leader could claim that his administration had lifted over 10.5 million citizens out of poverty, while “official figures even from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show worsening poverty rate, with 142.2 per cent growth in food inflation and over 82.9 million Nigerians being unable to afford their daily meals due to the failure of the administration to take practical steps to grow and protect the food sector.”

BESIDES, it charged the Senate to immediately reject the nomination of Buhari’s Special Assistant on New Media, Lauretta Onochie, as an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commissioner.

It threatened court action should the upper legislative chamber proceed with her confirmation.The Red Chamber, last week, gave the Senator Kabiru Gaya-led Committee on INEC14 days to screen the presidential aide for subsequent confirmation.

But at a press conference yesterday in Abuja, Ologbondiyan said the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, would have nobody but himself to blame for the “ridiculing of his tenure in office if he failed to return the nomination as demanded by Nigerians.”