Buhari: Our achievements real, not propaganda

By Umar Muhammad Puma

President Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration has recorded concrete achievements which are there for all to see, contrary to the opposition’s statement that the administration is running on propaganda and lies.
The President, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the assertion at the opening of the two-day Nigeria Governors’ Forum Conference for Media Handlers of States’ Chief Executives in Abuja on Monday.
‘’For our administration, our achievements are there for all to see. We are delivering in the broad areas that formed the plank of our policies: Security, fight against corruption and the economy, which includes the massive provision of infrastructure, ease of doing business and agriculture, just to mention a few,’’ he said.
Providing facts and figures, the President listed the administration’s achievements in ending subsidy and yet ensuring the availability of petroleum products; in raising power generation, transmission and distribution, in the massive provision of infrastructure; in tackling insecurity and making a success of the agriculture revolution, among others.
‘’Those who accused this administration of ‘propaganda and lies’ in the fuel supply sector, for example, did not tell Nigerians that whereas they paid between 800 billion and 1.3 trillion Naira as ‘subsidy’ yearly in their time, without making the products available even at regulated prices, this Administration is not paying any subsidy, yet all products are currently available at competitive prices and fuel queues are now history. In their time, they paid subsidy of 3.7 billion Naira daily in 2011; 2.2 billion Naira daily in 2012 and 2013, and 2.5 billion Naira daily in 2014, all for products that were never available.
‘’Those who accused this government of ‘propaganda and lies’ also said we have not achieved anything in the power sector. Comment is free, facts are sacred, as they say. When this administration assumed office on 29 May 2015, available power on the grid totaled 2,690MW, transmission capacity was around 5,000MW and distribution capacity was 4,000MW.
‘’As at 4 September 2017, the available power that can be put on the grid was 6,619MW; the transmission capacity was simulated at 6,700 MW (up from 5,000 MW in 2015) but the distribution capacity was 4,600 MW, which was what was put on the grid. On September 12, 2017, production of power reached an all-time level of 7,001MW,’’ he said.