‘Osinbajo is misleading Nigerians,’ PDP says

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Vice President-elect, Yemi Osinbajo of misleading Nigerians as regards the country’s debt profile.

Osinbajo had said on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, that President Goodluck Jonathan is leaving behind a debt profile of $60 billion for the incoming administration of President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh however criticized Osinbajo for not revealing that most of the debt was incurred by APC-run states.

Metuh made the comments via a statement released on Monday, May 25, 2015.

It reads:

"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 both 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.”

Metuh also urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop making excuses and deliver on its campaign promises to citizens of the country.