Nothing Can Be Worse Than Economy Tinubu Inherited From Buhari, Oshiomhole Blows Hot
A former National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the lawmaker representing Edo-North Senatorial District, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has taken a swipe at the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for handing over a ruined economy to Bola Tinubu.
Oshiomhole, a former Edo State Governor, spoke to State House Correspondents after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the State House in Abuja.
He said the economy that President Tinubu inherited from Buhari could barely service its debt, lamenting the problems cannot be quickly fixed.
“The government inherited a terrible economic situation,” Oshiomhole said.
“The government inherited an economy in which our total national revenue was barely enough to service our debt burden, spending 96%, which is to say every N100,000 Nigeria earns, N96,000 is going to repay debts, to service debt.
“So, you have only N4,000 left to pay all the salaries. So, nothing can be worse.”
The former governor said though the situation is bad, Tinubu’s administration is determined to turn things around.
He said, “Already, the executive—the president and vice president—they’ve shown courage in terms of the decisions they have taken, a radical movement away from one in which if you are well connected you could make billions without adding value to one in which if you want to make money, you have to work.
“We move away from a situation where CBN can favour you and you become a billionaire; of which they can pauperize you and your business collapses.
“Yes, it has created its own challenges, but I don’t know of any drug without side effects. Doctors will always tell you that every drug might cure your ailment but it will have a side effect. So, in taking it you have to do cost and benefit analysis.
“On the whole, I believe that the broad economic, specific macroeconomic policies that have been put in place so far both in terms of monetary policies and terms of fiscal policies are the best way to start.
“You remember just recently a Minister of Finance distanced herself from the monetary policies of a CBN Governor and they were not talking. If the hand and the leg are not walking in harmony, then there is no way you can get to your destination. So, I think we are in a better situation now.”
