A former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been accused of peddling rumours and falsehood in pursuit of his presidential ambition.
Making this accusation in a Press Statement, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said Atiku’s recent claims on Nigeria’s debt profile was nothing but “deliberate falsehood”.
In the statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said the former Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) takes delight in misrepresenting facts for political expediency.
“He has recently raised the bar in the manner he obfuscates issues on loans taken by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“The latest act by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to sustain his political relevance ahead of 2023 is his letter addressed to the National Assembly where he gave the impression that President Buhari was taking loans to fund unviable projects.
“This is coming few weeks after he jumped on the false narrative that Nigeria had traded its sovereignty for a $500m loan from China, but failed to apologise after he and his co-travellers were proved wrong.
“He is also known to have serially given false figures on loans taken by the Buhari administration when it is public knowledge that it inherited a national debt stock of $63bn while adding $16bn as at March 2020.
“But like all PDP elements, Atiku finds it convenient to convert the figures to naira using the current exchange rate just to make the figures look huge, and the government look bad.
“For us, it is yet another attempt to make political capital of the country’s debt stock under the Buhari administration when he cannot point at projects to justify the $63bn loan incurred by previous PDP administrations between 2010 and 2015,” the group added.
BMO also threw a challenge to the former PDP Presidential candidate to back up his claims that President Buhari had been taking loans to fund unviable projects.
“We have no choice but to challenge Alhaji Abubakar to show that he is truly worth being seen as an opposition figure by identifying and itemising projects that this administration has embarked on that are not viable.
“Like many Nigerians, we know that Atiku’s eyes are set firmly on the 2023 Presidential race, but we also believe that the public deserves the truth at all times, especially from a statesman and a serial contestant for the nation’s highest political office.
“This is more so that the Debt Management Office (DMO) has a website that is very accessible for anyone seeking information on the nation’s debt profile and projects tied to loans taken by the Buhari administration.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this government is doing far more than previous PDP administrations, and has also paid off $3bn of the legacy debt it inherited from the former ruling party”.
BMO also urged Atiku to shun subterfuge and play a more statesman-like role as a former Vice President, regardless of his life-long Presidential ambition.