…Makes U-Turn On Reference To Past Leadership
President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja told the 36 state governors that the Nigerian economy was in bad shape and that Nigerians would need to tighten their belts.
Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) cum Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the governors met with President Buhari in the Council Chambers of the presidential villa.
The President’s alarm on the economy came on the day it emerged that the provisional estimates for Nigeria’s Balance of Payments (BOP) in the third quarter of 2018, showed the overall BOP swinging into a deficit of US$4.542 billion, compared to surpluses of $503.97 million and $2.787 billion recorded in the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively.
Also, report released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased to 11.28 per cent (year-on-year) in November compared to 11.26 percent in the preceding month.
Governor Yari said: “President Buhari told us that the economy is in bad shape and that we have to come together, think and rethink on the way forward.”
The meeting of the governors with the President was to find a lasting solution to the unresolved issue of new minimum wage for Nigerian workers after they had met Thursday night to take a position on the matter.
Although Yari did not disclose government’s decision on the new minimum wage, he noted that the President, “talked to us in a manner that we have task ahead of us. We should tighten our belts and see how we can put the Nigerian economy in the right direction”.
According to him, Buhari, in an apparent recent on his earlier promise not to make reference to past administration, blamed the previous administrations led by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Nigeria’s infrastructure decay despite huge petrol revenue.
“He (Buhari) wondered what happened in the past; that for the 16 years of the now opposition party, the PDP in power and with oil at 2.1 million barrels per day at an average of $100, many infrastructure are in bad shape,” Yari said. The governor said contrary to the president’s initial resolution not to make reference to the decadence that characterised the PDP leadership, “Buhari is compelled to bring those issues before Nigerians so that they can decide if it is best to bring the former ruling party back to power”.
“He is going to open a vigorous campaign and these are key issues that he is going to raise with Nigerians so that they can weigh their choices,” Yari added.
Speaking on behalf of other governors at a special extended National Economic Council Meeting and the launch of Human Capital Development Programme with the theme: ‘Healthy, Educated and Productive Nigerians for a Globally Competitive Nation by 2030,’ held at the old banquet hall, presidential villa, Abuja, Yari made a case for more funding for all levels of governments.
He told the gathering that there was need for political decisions that would expand the Nigerian economy to generate funding for every arm of government to develop human capital and address other sundry issues.
In his remark at the event, Osinbajo urged the governors and other stakeholders to desist from blame game and resist playing politics with issues of human capital development.
Noting that the issue of human capital development was perhaps the most important in Nigeria today, Osinbajo asked: “What can be more important than the well-being of the people you serve? We are aware of this and this is so with the state governments and we are committed to ensuring that we positively transform from the Nigerian experience as it relates to the quality of life and well-being of our people.”
