On Monday 13th August, The Presidency dismissed former President Goodluck
Jonathan’s claim on the state of the economy at the end of his
administration in May 2015.
Jonathan said at the weekend that he handed over a healthy economy to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We tamed inflation at a single digit, maintained price stability,
and drove the economy to become the largest in Africa”, the ex-president
explained.
But the Presidency disagreed, saying the economy President Buhari inherited had crumbled.
In a statement titled “Your Excellency Dr Jonathan, this is the
economy you left behind, in case you have forgotten”, the Senior
Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said: “With due
respects to the former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, these are the
facts about the economy you left behind, in case you have forgotten.
“I hope this will help to erase the wrong statement credited to you
at your party, the PDP Convention at the Eagle Square last weekend that
you handed to President Buhari a robustly healthy economy.
“To the same extent, this should also help to erase yet another false
statement by Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, the Caretaker Chairman of
the party, to the effect that under the previous administration there
was money but now things are very hard.
“Let me start by reasserting an obvious statement, which is that the
President Muhammadu Buhari administration was handed an economy ravaged
by years of mismanagement and corruption.
“It is understandable that Dr Jonathon kept his comments short,
because a cursory look at any sector clearly indicated that he and his
government presided over the most monumental and tragic economic
mismanagement recorded in our national history.
“The oil sector boomed under his tenure, with oil prices as high as
US$ 120 and peace in the Niger Delta. Nigeria earned unprecedented
dollar revenues. Sadly,that is where the story turns sour.
There is
nothing to show for the revenues earned, no major capital project was
completed, neither power generation, road development, rail nor
agriculture benefited from the windfall earnings.
Rather the
administration presided over the diversion of oil revenues on such a
massive scale that even without the protection now accorded to Whistle
blowers, the then Central Bank Governor blew not only a whistle but a
trumpet.
“He was hurriedly shown the door. Meanwhile, the acquisition by
public officers and their cohorts of private jets, luxury yachts and the
accumulation of expensive property portfolios world-wide continued
unabated. Indeed the President once celebrated having the largest number
of private jets, whilst our youth languished without jobs, our fields
stood idle and our factories began the lay-off of workers.
“Government simply reticulated oil revenue through personal spending
by corrupt leaders, wasteful expenses and salaries. This was done
rather than investing in what would grow the economy. Economies grow due
to capital investment in assets like seaports, airports, power plants,
railways, roads and housing. Nigeria cannot record a single major
infrastructural project in the last 10 years. In short the money was
mismanaged.”
“Such was the looting that even the goose that was laying the golden
egg was being systematically starved. The direct contractual costs of
oil produced , in the form of cash calls, remained unpaid.
The
incoming, President Buhari’s welcome from the oil majors included
demand for US$6Bn owed by Nigeria for oil that had already been sold or
stolen,” he said.
Shehu recalled that at the inception of the Buhari administration, 21
States were unable to meet their salary bills and the spectre of
workers arrears had begun.
“The PDP solution was the raid of the Ecological Fund and it
selectively granted N2Bn each to the PDP states. It was only aggressive
borrowing by the Ministry of Finance under Dr Okonjo- Iweala that
prevented Federal Government from also owing salaries. The economic
wisdom of borrowing to pay recurrent bills is a questionable one,
particularly as those paid would have included over 45,000 that have
subsequently been removed by the Buhari-led administration as ghost
workers.
“It also included the lavish costs of chartering private jets, first
class travel and other wasteful acts that have been eliminated under
this administration.
“To compound the problem, the government was borrowing heavily and
owed contractors, and international oil companies. When this government
took over we had accumulated debt back to the level it was before the
Paris Club Debt forgiveness.
“All these factors were building up to Nigeria heading for a major
crisis if the price of oil fell. Nigeria did not have fiscal buffers to
withstand an oil shock.
“The oil shock should and could have been foreseen. When Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, crisis started, it was clear that the
United States of America wanted to cut off funds to terror groups by
crashing the price of oil. When America granted permission for
exploration of oil on land (Shale), the warning signs were evident, but
these were ignored by Nigeria’s economic managers,” Shehu said
The spokesman added: “In summary, Nigeria earned a lot of money when
oil prices were high but there is nothing to show for it. Now oil prices
have fallen we are suffering.
“What could they have done differently? They could have begun doing
the very things that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is doing so
painfully now:
“Fight corruption, sanitise the huge salary bill by eliminating
payroll fraud, reduce wasteful expenses like first class travel and
private jets, encourage state governments to reform their spending and
build savings or investments, Increase spending on capital projects,
especially on infrastructure needed to make Nigerian businesses
competitive, and create jobs, block the leakages that allowed government
revenues to be siphoned into private hands, Focus on key sectors (
apart from oil) that can create jobs and or generate revenue, such as
agriculture, solid minerals and manufacturing.”
“If these things had been done when the oil price was as high as
US$120 per barrel, Nigeria would not be in the current predicament.”
In Shehu’s view, Nigeria would not have been suffering, if we had
cash reserves, power, or a rail system, or good roads, or good housing.
“But we don’t have money and we don’t have the projects either.
“Now that the oil has fallen below those levels, it is very difficult
to do what is needed but they must be done to save Nigeria. There is no
other way if we want to be honest,” he said, adding:
“If PDP were still in power they would have continued deceiving
people, by borrowing to fund stealing and wastage and the problem would
have simply been postponed for future generations to face.
“One of former President Jonathon’s specific boasts is that dollar
under him was N180 compared to today. With such a line of argument, it
is clear why we are where we are. With oil prices as high as $120, the
average inflow of dollars each month was high, making it easy to support
cheap dollars.
However with oil price plummeting as low as $28, the
fundamental laws of supply and demand dictate that the currency would
need to adjust, since oil was the sole export. It is instructive to
note that virtually every major oil exporter has witnessed currency
adjustments with the fall in oil price.
“The Buhari administration has taken a long term strategic view of
supporting a stable naira on both the supply and demand sides. President
Buhari has driven Import substitution to reduce demand for dollars to
buy things we can produce, thereby creating thousands of rural jobs in
rice and other staples. In addition, there is a credible plan to
diversify our revenue sources away from oil, with focus on export crops
as well as solid minerals, with the release of US$100m fund to develop
solid mineral extraction.
“President Muhammdu Buhari has a positive and prosperous vision for
Nigeria. A nation in which the natural talent and hard work of the
people is being supported by an enabling environment of
infrastructural development and policy reforms that will develop a firm
future for our nation.
Nigerians are looking forward and the PDP’s
lurking in the economic rear view mirror only underscores the resolve of
Nigerians, that as far as the economy is concerned it is ‘never again’”
Shehu said.
2 comments:
And His Government is An Alert Winning One with so many Whistle-Blowed but not seen money
When and where did Buhari talk this...London office??
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