The Presidency and the Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-West, Buruji Kashamu, yesterday fired back at the former president Olusegun Obasanjo for claiming that President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance in office is below average, insisting that Jonathan has performed better than all other previous Nigerian leaders.

A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in Abuja, faulted the claim made by Obasanjo at an event at the weekend, saying that the comments “are untrue, misleading and clearly do not tally with the facts on the ground.”

The statement said the presidency wished to assert “without equivocation that in terms of performance and achievements, no administration since 1960 when Nigeria gained independence from Britain, has done as much as that of President Jonathan.”

“Every discerning and unbiased Nigerian will definitely attest to this fact as the evidence stare all of us in the face,” it added before going further to show sector by sector how the Jonathan’s administration had performed.

The statement said: “We will show here that contrary to Chief Obasanjo’s position, the Federal Government under President Jonathan has performed excellently given the prevailing circumstances and resources available.

“An assessment of key sectors of national life under the Jonathan administration will definitely controvert Chief Obasanjo’s argument that President Jonathan has not performed well. We will prove this by looking at the performance of the following sectors under President Jonathan.”

Under power, the Presidency observed that Jonathan inherited a sector faced with serious challenges with generation, distribution and transmission of power with generation nationwide just at 2,550 megawatts, noting that today, it is now 4,000 megawatts.

The Presidency said the installed capacity which stood at 5,900 megawatts in 2011 increased to 6,900 in 2013 with the completion of all the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plants, “which for reasons only he can explain, Chief Obasanjo had abandoned during his tenure.”

On agriculture, the Presidency noted that the revolution the Jonathan administration engineered has not only empowered millions of farmers in the country but has equally saved Nigeria billions of Naira and dollars, which in times past had been lost to fertilizers racketeers and food importation.

It said: “Nigeria’s food production has expanded by 21 million metric tonnes; three million farm jobs have been created and more importantly, our import of food has declined by 38 per cent from N1.1 trillion to N635 billion in 2013.”

Kashamu, on his part, said it was most ridiculous for the former president to publicly denigrate his successors just to score cheap political points, adding: “If this is how he wants to regain his lost political relevance in the South-West, then it would be counterproductive.”

Kashamu's statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to yet another outburst and unwarranted attack by ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo on the person and office of President Goodluck Jonathan wherein the former claimed that President Jonathan has performed below average.

“It is utterly nauseating how he catches on the slightest opportunity to publicly cast aspersion on President Jonathan, with the intent of inciting the people against the president and swaying public opinion against him.

“If this occasional outburst is how he wants to regain his lost political relevance in the South-West, then it would be counterproductive. We thank God that since he turned his back on the PDP, the party has been repositioned and we have been winning elections fair and square.”

•Adapted from Nigerian Tribune. Photo shows OBJ.

Update news