The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as highly despicable
and deceitful, the attempt by the APC to distort the facts on verifiable
achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan in agriculture saying such
has “clearly confirmed that the APC is a party of liars, fraudulent and
desperate individuals completely averse to the well-being of Nigerians.”
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in a statement on Monday
said it is unfortunate that the APC has deliberately refused to accept
the unprecedented successes recorded in agriculture under President
Jonathan as demonstrated in the quantum leap in domestic food production
for which the nation has received international applause.
“That President Goodluck Jonathan has repositioned the agricultural
sector repositioned agriculture from the traditional subsistence
occupation to an investment-driven, wealth and job-creating sector that
guarantees food security remains incontrovertible and no amount of lies
from APC propaganda machine can distort this fact.
“Why should the APC seek to distort the fact that under President
Jonathan, Nigeria has expanded domestic production by additional 21
metric tonnes to exceed its 20 million metric ton target set for 2015, a
feat which earned the nation a special award by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations?
“What has APC to say to the fact that under Jonathan, over 2.7 million
farm jobs have been created, boosting production in various agricultural
sub-sectors to rank our great country as one of the biggest food
producers in Africa?
“Should the APC be unhappy that under President Jonathan, genuine
Nigerians farmers now have direct access to fertilizers, seedlings and
other farm inputs through special intervention initiatives such as the
e-wallet system, which allows as much as 14 million farmers to access
fertilizers directly using their mobile phones?
“Should the APC be unhappy that millions of our farmers have been
empowered to enjoy bumper harvest and that private sector investments
are thriving as a result of the investment friendly environment created
by the Jonathan administration?
“What has the APC to say to the massive investments in staple food
production including the 105, 000 metric tonnes capacity integrated rice
mill commissioned by President Jonathan at Olams rice farm in Rukubi,
Doma, Nasarawa State as well as the investment of USD1billion in
commercial rice production and processing by the Dangote Group with the
encouragement of the Federal Government?
“Indeed, Nigerians are worried that the APC has continued to show its
unwritten manifesto of attempting to run-down projects for the benefit
of ordinary Nigerians. The recent criticism of the achievements of the
President in education including the establishment of new federal
universities and the Almajiri system of education readily comes to mind.
“Even as APC thinks that continued negative approach to Jonathan’s
glaring achievements will help them in their empty campaign, wisdom
demands that they should learn to be silent if they have nothing
tangible to say”, the PDP said.
The ruling party therefore called on Nigerians to note APC’s aversion
towards their welfare even as it urged them to vote for President
Goodluck Jonathan so as to ensure the continuity of the laudable
projects in the sector.