Posted by As Nigerians grind their teeth over the economic slump, former governors of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, and Dr. Lamido Sanusi of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have laid the responsibility for the dire economic conditions at the feet of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
When contacted yesterday, a few of the previous president’s aides declined to respond, pleading with Buhari to be left out of the conversation.
Sanusi specifically stated that it was unfair to hold President Bola Tinubu’s government accountable for the present economic difficulties the nation is experiencing because, in his view, Nigeria’s economy is collapsing as a result of poorly implemented economic policies during the last eight years.
Sanusi made this claim while addressing virtually on Sunday at a religious gathering in Abuja. He also said that he would not support people who were determined to criticize Tinubu for the nation’s current economic difficulties.
“I have been talking about the impending crisis ahead of the current economic hardship,” he said. Nigerians will find themselves in this challenging circumstance, as any economist who has studied monetary policy over the past eight years can attest.
“If the proper decision is not made, the difficult position that Nigerians are suffering is just the beginning. Nigeria is not an anomaly; similar circumstances have also occurred in Germany, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Venezuela.
“Our request for corrective action (on the economic policy) was met with adamance by the previous administration.” In front of the current president of Kaduna State, I have stated that you should not vote for any politician who tells you that life would be easy because they are lying. All they did was brush off my advice as a political stance.
“President Tinubu is not to blame for the current hardship, if I am to be fair and just toward him. We were living a false lifestyle for eight years, heavily indebted both domestically and internationally. With a debt of more than N30 trillion, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s debt service ratio is more than 100%.
“I am not claiming President Tinubu is a saint free from wrongdoing, but I can’t join other Nigerians in criticizing him for the current economic suffering. President Tinubu is not to blame in this circumstance. In the future, I will also speak out if I observe any incorrect economic policies implemented by the Tinubu administration.
Removal of fuel subsidies should be commended.
The Central Bank has been printing more money over the past eight years, while the value of the naira has been declining. The CBN is producing money without restriction, which has resulted in an excessive amount of naira in circulation.
“Apart from sycophancy, nothing has been done in the last eight years; those sycophants are individuals who buy the dollar at N400 and sell it at N600 to N700. The economy was mismanaged, and they are unwilling to take advise.
“Just by purchasing dollars at a discount and reselling them, a teenager with no military history acquires a private jet and homes in Dubai and England.
Appeal to the affluent, common people
“All I can do is beg that people bear with the suffering, and let those who have the resources to assist the oppressed do so.
“In this challenging situation where people are searching for food, I am also appealing with commoners to live in accordance with their earnings; we must not peg our lives above our earnings.”
Tinubu declared the elimination of fuel subsidies at his inaugural speech in 2023 following the general elections, claiming the nation could no longer afford them.
He mentioned that among other things, the trillions of naira spent yearly to maintain the subsidies were intended to improve national security, housing, schools, the transportation and healthcare industries, and so on.
But since the removal, Nigerians have had to deal with everything from skyrocketing food prices to rising medicine expenses.
Many people in several states, including Kano, Osun, and Niger, protested against the exorbitant prices of food and other necessities as a result.
The demonstrators claimed that the people in the states were suffering greatly as a result of the dire economic circumstances.
Oshiomhole agrees.
In a similar vein, Senator Adams Oshiomhole claimed that the “reckless policies” of former President Buhari are today causing misery for Nigerians.
He recalls criticizing certain policies he claimed were intended to dehumanize the populace.
In a late-Sunday interview with Channels Television, Oshiomhole made these claims and said that the hardships facing the current government are a result of the long-term effects of the policies implemented during the Buhari administration.
“My first loyalty is to Nigeria,” he declared. Before the last President departed office, I once publicly bemoaned the careless policies I perceived as intended to dehumanize the already suffering populace.It didn’t feel like what the president at the time had promised. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to distance myself from those policies.
A few governors came before the court to criticize the practices. We are still battling the long-term effects of those policies at this point.
The former Edo State governor went on to say that President Tinubu shouldn’t be held accountable for the actions taken by the outgoing administration.
It is our party’s platform, yes. He was neither an advisor nor a minister, as Tinubu also stated. He never accepted a contract from that government, thus he is not liable for anything the government did—right or wrong,” he declared.