Only God will judge this - Buhari takes swipe at successive PDP administrations

President Muhammadu Buhari has taken another swipe at successive Peoples Democratic Party administrations between 1999 and 2015, saying God will judge them for mismanaging the country’s resources.

“Nigerians know that there were no roads or rail lines, there was no power, despite the billions of dollars spent. Only God will judge this thing,” Mr. Buhari said.

The president said he approached the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shortly after assuming office and he told him there was no money in federal coffers.

Worse still, the president said, there was no infrastructure or any developmental achievements to point to as justification for draining substantial crude oil earnings.

“In those 16 years of PDP rule, Nigeria was getting 2.1 million times 100 (2.1 million barrels by $100 per barrel) every day, every week, but when we came on board, the price fell to between $37-38 and hung around $40-$50."

“I went to the Central Bank of Nigeria, – the governor of CBN is here – and asked him, how far? And he said nothing was left apart from debts. I said, but this is what the country made? And he said: Yes. He knew, and I asked him, where is the money? All gone,” he said.

Kola Ologbondiyan, a national spokesperson for the PDP, could not be reached for comments Wednesday morning.

But the president repeated these controversial talking points that oil sold at an average of $100 a barrel for the 16-year rule of the PDP without citing any authority for evidence.

PREMIUM TIMES examined the claim last October and found that it was inaccurate.

The president’s claim that he met “nothing” in a federal treasury when he assumed office was also debunked in that article.