₦airaland Forum

- The presidency has rejected the assertion by the PDP that the nation’s economy is in trouble

- According to Garba Shehu, capital importation into Nigeria grew by 216 percent in the first quarter of 2019, as compared to the last quarter of 2018

- Shehu said in his first four years, Buhari improved relations with China, the U.S. and Europe and had won their support for his development agenda

- The presidential spokesman insisted that President Buhari remains the best hope for the Nigerian economy
The presidency has described as untrue, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s assertion that the Nigerian economy is in trouble.

A presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, who debunked the PDP’s assertion in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, August 7 lectured the party on the Buhari administration’s economic score card, NAN reports.

Legit.ng gathers that Shehu noted that in keeping with historical trends, there was less economic activity during the electoral cycle.He, however, said that the economy grew by 2.35 percent in the second quarter of 2015 and 3.96 percent in first quarter of 2015 as compared to 5.94 percent 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 percent in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the last quarter of 2018.”


He further noted that the foreign portfolio investment, which is still foreign investment, was 7.14 billion dollars in the first quarter of the year.“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 paper point to increasing economic activity.

“First is that the profit of UACN grew in the first half of this year by 61 percent.“Second is that Business Day (pg 1) states that cargo imports jumped by 21 percent 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 said.

The presidential aide observed that a major constraint to business was the Apapa gridlock which a number of companies had listed as the major impediment to doing business.

He, however, noted that this situation had been improved tremendously.Shehu revealed that, in his first four years, Buhari improved relations with China, the U.S. and Europe and had won their support for the administration’s development agenda.

He also disclosed that the president had channeled unprecedented sums of money into infrastructure development, saying that capital spending had been kept at about 30 percent of annual budgets. “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.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) claimed former vice president Atiku Abubakar was directly responsible for the pauperisation of millions of Nigerians.

The pro-Buhari group said the PDP presidential candidate in the 2019 elections pauperised Nigerians when he served as the head of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP.

The group said this contradicted Atiku’s claims that the Muhammadu Buhari administration had ruined the country.

“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,”

olaric:
Garba Shehu talks without thinking--always irrational in virtually everything he says