News: PDP Slams APC says Osinbajo misleading Nigerians about government’s debt

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) doesn’t share the same view on the amount of debt Jonathan is leaving behind and has accused the Vice President-elect, Yemi Osinbajo, of misleading the public regarding the actual debt owed by the Federal Government.
In a statement issued on Monday by the National Publicity Secre
tary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, it said Osinbajo’s action was an attempt by the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) to discredit the PDP led Federal Government stating that Osinbajo failed to be “bold and honest enough” to also inform the nation that the bulk of the $63.7 billion total debt was incurred by APC states.
“It is indeed unfortunate that the Vice President-elect who has the details of the debt stock chose to be economical with the truth and to mislead Nigerians just to discredit the current PDP-led administration and rationalize APC’s unpreparedness for governance.
“Prof. Osinbajo is aware that the $63.7 billion is made up of external and domestic debts belonging not only to the federal government but to federal and state governments and accumulating since the 1960s, yet he deliberately misrepresented the facts to give the unsuspecting public the impression that the amount was exclusively incurred by the current federal government.
“Perhaps the Vice President-elect avoided the details so as not to expose the fact that the APC controlled Lagos State has the highest external debt stock of $1,169, billion as well as the highest domestic debt stock of N278, 867 billion.
“Furthermore we find it unacceptable and unstatesmanly for the Vice President-elect to attempt to mislead Nigerians into believing that the total federal debt component was accumulated under the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration, when it is on record that a greater chunk of the amount was inherited,” PDP said.
According to the Nation, APC explained that part of the contemporary borrowing from the domestic bond market was occasioned by the global economic and financial crisis, as well as the downturn in crude oil revenue, which adversely affected other economies of the world.
It asked if the APC and the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, did not know about the economic challenges caused by the dwindling oil revenues before making their bogus promises to Nigerians.
“The APC must fulfill its promises for which Nigerians voted for them. Were they not aware of the debt stock and the dwindling oil revenues before making their huge promises to the people? Were the promises only intended as carrots to mislead the people and deceitfully win their votes after which they are dumped?” the statement added.