Buhari has saved N1.4tr in four months – APC … No going back on N5,000 monthly stipend, says party

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured Nigerians that it will not renege on its campaign promise to pay N5,000 to 25 million most vulnerable Nigerians every month.

It called on well-meaning Nigerians to ignore the mischievous attempt by the PDP to confuse and mislead them on the issue.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed yesterday, the party said even though the PDP-led Federal Government plundered the common wealth in its time, APC has devised creative means not only to pay the money but also to fulfill its other campaign promises to Nigerians.

It said the non-implementation of the payment policy so far is due to the fact that it was not included in the 2015 budget, which was prepared by the PDP-led Jonathan administration, and also because of the need to first block all financial leakages.

The party said: ”Now, the Buhari administration has been busy putting into place measures that will make it possible to start the implementation of this project. Such measures include the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA)

”We are happy to inform Nigerians that as at the end of September 2015, over N1.4 trillion, which hitherto was lying unproductively in various commercial banks, has been recovered and paid into the TSA.”

The party said that in its usual jumpy and superficial approach to issues, the opposition has already rushed to judgment on the issue without bothering to hear from the APC, which made the promise in the first instance.

”Had the PDP not sacrificed the truth on the altar of political expediency, it would have realised that the APC never at any time indicated it has reneged on its promise to pay N5,000 monthly to 25 million most vulnerable Nigerians.

In our press statement of August 30, 2015, we still reiterated our plan to redeem our campaign promises, including the social security payment policy, despite the primitive looting of the treasury under the watch of the PDP.

”It is therefore astonishing that the same PDP, which is becoming more and more infamous for its penchant for peddling half truths and sensationalizing every issue, will rush to the press to celebrate the figment of its imagination that the APC will not fulfill its campaign promise regarding the payment,” it said.

The APC said the Buhari administration is also embarking on a massive infrastructure renewal programme in the areas of roads, rail and power, for which a 2.5-billion-dollar Infrastructure Fund is being put in place.

“Contrary to the disinformation being peddled by the PDP, the Buhari administration is poised to lift millions of Nigerians out of extreme poverty by providing social protection and safety nets with another N2.5 trillion Special Intervention Fund,” the party said.