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Under PDP, Nigeria had phantom soldiers whose salaries went into private pockets – Presidency

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The presidency on Sunday slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for messing up Nigeria throughout its 16-year stay in power.

The presidency was reacting to the opposition party’s criticism of the Federal Government over the renewed attacks on soft targets, particularly in the North-West and North-East by bandits and Boko Haram insurgents.

In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, the presidency described the PDP as an unmitigated failure, noting that the party plundered the country’s resources throughout its years in power.

The statement read: “The rejected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fantasy communiqué is a work of fiction by those who truly believe black is white and one plus one equals three.

“This statement of the delusional seeks to cover up the serial and criminal failures of the PDP’s long and damaging period in office, which the Muhammadu Buhari administration and All Progressives Congress (APC) have strived these past seven years to amend.”

The presidency claimed the PDP misappropriated the funds meant for the salaries of the members of the country’s Armed Forces.

READ ALSO: PDP wants to sneak back to power through destabilization of Nigeria – Presidency

“We cannot forget under PDP, the nation had an army full of phantom soldiers whose pay went to PDP politicians’ pockets while our under-resourced real soldiers died in the fight against insurgents and our international allies refused to supply Nigeria kit and military aid.

“Today with the APC, the army is resourced, we have fighter jets from our partners, Boko Haram is being driven from every inch of Nigerian territory, and ISWAP’s leader eliminated in a Nigerian airstrike.

“We cannot ignore how PDP politicians sought – and continue to seek – to inflame ethnic and religious tensions by refusing to even proffer a solution to the herder-farmer clashes which became most prevalent under their misrule.

“Today with APC in government, there are ranches on federal land and in state land where there is the willingness to establish them. Clashes are reduced. Lives are saved, and livelihoods are enriched.

“We will always remember how PDP politicians intentionally encouraged and exploited the black market in currency exchange to convert ill-gotten gains to foreign currency and undermine our national currency, then spirited their funds abroad in their billions and into foreign bank accounts,” it added.

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