The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday tagged the manifesto of the opposition All Progressives Congress as phantom, deceitful and bogus.
The PDP specifically said the APC’s the manifesto is unrealisable.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated this at a press conference in Abuja.
Metuh alleged that since its formation about two years ago, the APC has introduced and sustained political streak of lies, character assassination, false alarm and wild allegations.
This, the PDP maintained, was being done by the APC in the desperation to deceive and misdirect the judgment of the electorate ahead of the general elections.
The APC, Metuh stated, has promised to pay a stipend of N5,000 each to 25 million poor Nigerians monthly, which, according to him, amounts to N125 billion monthly and N1.5 trillion every year.
According to the PDP National Publicity Secretary: “The APC knows full well that this is not only unrealistic but also impracticable in a nation with an estimated budget of N4.69 trillion comprising recurrent and capital expenditures yet they continue to dish it out to unsuspecting citizens in a clear bid to mislead.”
Metuh equally made reference to the APC’s promise to create 740,000 direct jobs in each of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT within one year, in addition to create one million jobs for Igbo youths also within the same period.
He added: “The APC has also promised to provide free education, daily free meals for millions of Nigerian school children, free tertiary education, free health care and free houses to Nigerians.
“The opposition knows too well that this is unrealistic yet they prefer to brandish falsehood.”
Metuh maintained that it was pertinent that the APC should explain to Nigerians how they would fulfill their promises with the prevailing 40 per cent drop in national income and dwindling oil price in the international market”.
Continuing, he said: “These promises are therefore either bogus or part of their (APC’s plot to subject the citizens to a harsh tax regime ostensibly to finance Bourdilon Drive and other personal interests, the real reason they desperately seek power.
“We therefore challenge the APC to come forward and admit before Nigerians that these promises are false and merely deceitful, if not they should be bold enough to tell Nigerians that they are planning to skyrocket our personal income and company taxes if they ever get to power.”
Metuh pointed out that under the PDP-led administration, company tax is a maximum of 30 per cent of the profit, whereas personal income tax hovers from one 1 per cent for minimum wage earners to a maximum of 19 per cent for Nigerians earning up to N100
million.
Nigerians, he maintained, cannot afford a tax regime of 45 per cent company tax and 32 per cent personal income tax.
According to him: “Whilst we note the multiple tax regime in APC states like Lagos state, we believe that Nigerians are not ready to bear the brunt of APC’s harsh tax policy.
“If on the other hand APC decides to deny the planned imposition of a harsh tax regime, then they must accept they are guilty of fake campaign promises and deceitful manifesto.
“Indeed, the APC has constituted itself into a huge embarrassment to our dear nation. It has remained a camp of dishonest lot whose statements cannot be trusted having continually displayed its lack of integrity and proclivity for falsehood. A party of one week, one lie.”
Metuh declared that Nigerians are still shocked at the discovery of the latest international fraud where the APC rehashed an old interview by its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, as a fresh one, all in a bid to cover up a mismanaged international trip.
This, the PDP National Publicity Secretary noted, was coming shortly after another shocking discovery that the APC’s claim that Buhari visited Chibok turned out to be a hoax meant to deceive Nigerians, as he never did.
Metuh added: “We have with us an opposition party, which has been deploying all manner of schemes to derail and compromise the electoral process.
“Today, if the APC is not instigating violence or threatening democracy and our very existence as a nation, the party is busy procuring criminal hi-tech to hack into INEC’s data-base or clone the Permanent Voter Card.
“The next day, the same party would connive with some unscrupulous electoral officers to deny non-indigenes in some select states their PVCs while busy making bogus promises to the electorates.”