Buhari, APC have destroyed healthy economy inherited in 2015 —Melaye

Dino Melaye, spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Muhammadu Buhari-led government of destroying all the economic legacies of the major opposition party.

Melaye, in a statement on Monday, said the ruling party had plunged Nigeria into more woes with its incompetence and destructive policies.

The country’s debt, according to data released by Debt Management Office (DMO), rose by N30.72tn between July 2015 and June 2022.

Nigeria’s total debt as of June 30, 2015 stood at N12.12tn. By June 30, 2022, the figure had risen to N42.84tn, which showed an increase of 253.47 per cent. Despite the high increase in debt over the years, the government still plans to borrow N8.4tn in 2023.

The former lawmaker described the debt accumulation by the Buhari-led administration as disastrous.

The PDP chieftain, thus, cautioned Nigerians against voting for the ruling party next year.

The statement read: “The APC inherited a healthy economy in 2015, just a year after Nigeria’s economy was rebased, and rated as the largest economy in Africa, ahead of South Africa. Rather than consolidate on the gains recorded by the PDP administration, Buhari and the APC embarked on unprecedented economic amateurism that has thrown Nigeria into one of the least performing economies in Africa. The APC has also thrown Nigeria into such a huge debt doldrum that it would take the country years of creative management to regain lost grounds.

Read also:‘Nigeria begging for healer not patient’, Melaye aims jibe at Tinubu

“The APC which premised its campaign on change has succeeded in taking Nigeria back more than 10 years. While they accused their predecessors of corruption, they have now made corruption a state policy and the stench in the high corruption quotient of APC provokes deep revulsion.

“Nigerians will not forget the great prosperity under the PDP administrations. They can also not forget how the reversal of fortune under APC has brought Nigeria down from prosperity to poverty, resulting in the relegation of Nigerians to a nation of 133 million poor citizens. If only Nigerians understood what the APC meant by change! The prodigal son scores better when peered with the APC.

“Nigerians should look forward to the termination of APC’s arrested development when Atiku/Okowa and the PDP return Nigeria to its winning ways. As President Obasanjo said in his famous aphorism, there is no need to reinforce failure. What the World Bank report has done is an economic advisory, which Nigerians have to take seriously by looking away from APC and embracing the People’s Democratic Party on February 25, 2023.”

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