The Presidency on Wednesday insisted that President Muhammadu Buhari was the best person to deliver economic growth for Nigeria.
Reacting to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s assertion that the Nigerian economy was in trouble, a claim it described as untrue, the Presidency said so far Buhari had done well for the economic sector of the nation.
A presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who debunked the PDP’s assertion in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, enumerated the Buhari administration’s economic achievements.
While acknowledging reduced economic activity during the electoral cycle, which he said was in keeping with historical trends, Shehu pointed out that the nation’s economy grew by 2.35 per cent in second quarter of 2015 and 3.96 per cent in first quarter of 2015 compared to 5.94 per cent in fourth quarter of 2014.
He said: “While foreign direct investment can help, it is not the only source of investment in the economy. There is also domestic investment which is either undertaken by the government or by the private sector.
“It is also noteworthy that capital importation into Nigeria grew by 216 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the last quarter of 2018.
“A look at business pages in newspapers shows that there is a lot of business activity going on in the country.
“Two stories in today’s (Wednesday) paper point to increasing economic activity.
“First is that the profit of UACN grew in the first half of this year by 61 per cent.
“Second is that Business Day (pg1) states that cargo imports jumped by 21 per cent in the first half of 2019. Increasing imports is a pointer to greater economic activity and the availability of foreign exchange with which to conduct business.”
He further noted that the foreign portfolio investment, was 7.14 billion dollars in the first quarter of the year.
The presidential aide lamented that a major constraint to business was the Apapa gridlock which a number of companies had listed as the major impediment to doing business adding though that the situation had improved considerably.
Elaborating more on the President’s achievements, Shehu said that the first four years of Buhari’s administration saw improved relations with China, the U.S. and Europe resulting to their support for the administration’s development agenda.
The Presidential aide further disclosed that the President had channeled huge sums of money into infrastructure development.
“Construction of roads, highways, public transport and airports have sharply increased. Government is spending heavily on power.
“This, combined with private sector investment has grown generation capacity to 13 megawatts.
“All said and done, President Buhari remains the best hope for the Nigerian economy. The country needs change and this remains the person with the will and determination to deliver,” he added.
