Apparently overjoyed by the scorecards of some ministers who have appeared before it, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gave a boastful verdict on the exercise, saying on Wednesday that the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan administration have been grossly under-publicized.
The party also asked Mr Jonathan to ignore opposition’s criticisms of his administration.
Five ministers have so far presented their scorecards in an exercise that will see the rest of their colleagues appearing before the party leadership.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh in Abuja, PDP, said though it is aware that the administration has achieved so much in all the critical sectors of the economy, the scorecards so far presented to it by cabinet ministers in the on-going ministerial briefings, have shown that the government has “actually achieved far more than have been widely acknowledged.”
It said that the leadership of the party and indeed Nigerians are happy with the administration but added that the ministries should strengthen their publicity department to enlighten Nigerians more on their activities.
“The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is indeed very surprised at the extent of achievements recorded so far by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration,” the statement said.
“We are aware that the administration has recorded tremendous successes in executing its mandate in the critical sectors of the economy, but the scorecards presented by ministers in the on-going PDP ministerial briefing have shown that this administration have actually achieved more than have been widely acknowledged.”
The party noted that presentations by the ministers who have so far appeared before it – the Ministers of Works, Water Resources, Mines and Steel, Science and Technology and that of National Planning – show that their activities and successes were under-publicized.
It, therefore, urged ministers to beef up their publicity departments to give adequate publicity to their activities and achievements.
The national leadership of the ruling party urged Mr Jonathan to discountenance “ill founded” criticisms by the opposition which it said are directly meant to distract the government from delivering on its mandate.
The party also restated that it would continue to focus on issues and the welfare of Nigerians in line with its manifesto and Transformation Agenda of the present administration.
The PDP national leadership, however, lambasted the opposition for their “anti-democratic disposition” which it said were “evident in the manipulation of local council elections in opposition-controlled states such as Lagos and Edo, where, according to it, the polls were characterized by outright rigging and electoral malpractices using their overbearing control of their State Independent Electoral Commissions”.
“If they were in charge of the Federal Government, it is obvious that they would have since taken over the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and cripple the nation’s democracy”, it said.
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