The Presidency on Monday berated the opposition People’s Democracy Party (PDP) saying the opposition party was trivialising and politicising the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari.

This was contained in a statement issued by Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity who also condemned the recruitment of some religious leaders by the PDP to tarnish the good image of the president in his recent visit to Lagos State.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that the President visited Lagos to commission some newly-acquired addition to the fleet of the Nigerian Navy in the fight against piracy and terrorism along the nation’s waters.

“Those in the PDP who have nothing positive or new to add to the debate about the future of the nation seek to trivialize the president’s Lagos visit.

“They choose to ignore the crucial launch of the naval vessels; they suggest the primary reason for going to Lagos was to attend a book launch.

“They try to make further mileage by claiming the president should not have attended given the attack by bandits elsewhere in the country that same day.

“Should the president not have launched the naval ships the day after that attack? Should he listen to the PDP who feign concern for those affected by banditry when they did nothing to combat it for decades – not on land or at sea?,” the statement read.

Garba further highlighted the importance of President Buhari’s attendance at the book launch of Chief Bisi Akande, a leader within the All Progressives Party.

“Without visionaries such as Bisi Akande, the corrupt PDP and its acolytes who have done so much to strip our nation of its wealth, stunt its growth, and subject it to derogation abroad would still be in office.

“Should our famously austere president not attend a book launch of his friend and fellow democratic opposition veteran when it coincided with a visit to Lagos to tend the affairs of state?

“Through their attacks, the PDP revealed their priorities.

“Of course, for decades, as the PDP enjoyed their decadent parties at others’ expense, the navy and the armed forces rotted through negligence.

“It reveals the difference between a president who cares for the country while managing to show courtesy to his comrades and the opposition who corrupted the country through the sharing out of its wealth.

“Sadly, these opportunistic opposition elements, in a desperate search for political points, have dragged respected religious leaders into the discussion, feeding them misleading information.

“The latter have in turn used this distorted picture to black-paint the president in the eyes of innocent members of the public,” the Presidency stated.