PMB scorecard: APC has a lot to campaign with —Lai Mohammed
…Says despite the challenges, Buhari has outperformed PDP’s administration
Joel Oladele, Abuja
As the Buhari led administration winds down, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has taken his time to reel out the various achievements of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government, insisting that the party has a lot in its scorecard to campaign with ahead of the forthcoming 2023 General Elections.
The Information Minister disclosed this in his remarks at the 2nd edition of the “PMB Administration Scorecard 2025-2023” series in Abuja on Monday.
According to him, it is an irony that the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who presided over the affairs of the country in the time of abundance, yet could not positively turn the fortune of the nation around has the gut to blame APC administration who despite the various challenges facing the country has not stopped delivering the dividends of democracy to the citizens.
Speaking further at the second edition of the program which featured the Honourable Minister of Transportation who was there to showcase the achievements of the ministry, Lai Mohammed said the Buhari administration is spoilt for choice when it comes to celebrating its achievements as it has lost counts of such within the last 7 years.
“Let me formally welcome you all to this second edition of the ‘PMB Administration Scorecard 2015-2023 Series.’ As you are all aware, We launched this series last month, specifically on Wednesday, Oct. 19th 2022, to massively showcase the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration.
“I said on that occasion, which featured the Honorable Minister of Works and Housing, that we have, over these past years, highlighted these achievements on various platforms, including Town Hall Meetings, Press, Radio and TV Documentaries, Media Appearances and Testimony Series. I also said that as the Administration winds down, we believe it’s very important to consolidate our efforts at showcasing these achievements, hence the design of this and other special programmes dedicated to that purpose.
“Before I invite the Honourable Minister of Transportation to make his presentation, I want to address what I will call an absurdity that is being bandied about by the opposition, that the Buhari Administration has nothing to campaign with in the run-up to the 2023 general elections.
“It’s a cruel irony that the party that presided over the affairs of this great country in a time of plenty, but could not complete a single modern rail line, is the one accusing an Administration that has completed at least three standard gauge rail-lines of lacking in achievements.
“Indeed, the Buhari Administration is spoilt for choice in celebrating its achievements. As I said, we have completed the Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and Itakpe-Warri Standard Gauge Rail-lines, we have commissioned brand new airport terminals in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, we have completed housing projects in 35 states, we have constructed or are constructing road projects in every state.
“We have the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme that has almost weaned us from dependence on imported rice and other crops, we met 15 standard rice mills and now we have over 50, we have our unprecedented National Social Investment Programme under which 9.8 million school children are fed one meal daily, under which 1 million youth have been empowered and another 500,000 who are undergoing trainings under the N-Power and the 1,632,480 households that have been enrolled in the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.
“We are proud of the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure (also known as Deep Blue Asset), aimed at managing, controlling and protecting Nigerian waterways towards the advancement of coastal prosperity. I can go on and on but that means we won’t have the opportunity to hear from the Honourable Minister of Transportation,” Lai said
He added that PDP is “quick to point to some economic indices like the Naira exchange rate and inflation, but the truth is that if they were the ones confronted with having to fight a once-in-a-century pandemic, two economic recessions and low oil prices, Nigeria would have had no economy to even talk about.”
