The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly distorting the facts on what it termed verifiable achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan in agriculture, saying such has, “clearly confirmed that the opposition party is a party of liars and desperate individuals”.
In a statement on Saturday, the PDP national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, said it was unfortunate that the opposition party 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.
He said: “That President Goodluck Jonathan has repositioned the agriculture 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 tonnes target set for 2015, a feat which earned the nation a special award by the Food and Agriculture Organisation 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?”
The PDP spokesperson wondered if the APC was unhappy that under President Jonathan, genuine Nigerian farmers now had direct access to fertilisers, 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 fertilisers directly using their mobile phones.
He queried: “Should the APC be unhappy that millions of our farmers have been empowered to enjoy bumper harvests 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”.