*President chose demanding path to save Nigeria from economic woes
*Don’t blame presideny for economic woes — Yuguda
Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday announced that the administration of President Bola Tinubu would not cut corners in reengineering Nigeria’s economy, even as he declared manipulators of the Naira and other economic saboteurs have been fished out.
He made the revelation in Abuja in his address titled ‘The Politics of Sacrificing for the Greater Good’ during the Policy Roundtable Conference on “Asiwaju Score Card Series” held at Shehu Yar’Adua Centre, by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Forum.
The forum was chaired by the former Governor of Bauchi State and ex- Minister of State for Aviation, Alhaji Isa Yuguda.
Represented by Aliyu Moddibo Umar, his Special Adviser on General Duties and ex-FCT Minister, Vice-President Shettima said the Tinubu administration inherited a burden that required the sincerity of leadership to tackle.
He said what the administration had rolled out are designed to deal with the remnants of longstanding issues that have undermined the economy head-on, rather than opting for temporary fixes.
According to him, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has made the difficult but necessary choices to ensure Nigeria’s long-term stability and prosperity are never in doubt.
*He has chosen a path that, although demanding, promises to save our nation from economic downfall.”
He added that “we came at a time that demanded interventions to end untenable practices that threatened our economic survival, a time that required decisive action to redirect resources toward more productive sectors of our economy, and we do not tread this path with malice.
“Our interventions to save the economy of the nation have been crucial in combating economic sabotage by identifying individuals and groups masterminding these setbacks and profiting from them, whether through currency manipulation or institutionalized corruption. The results of our interventions are promising, and we are proud of the progress made in strengthening the Naira.”
In his remarks, chairman of Board of Trustees of APC Professionals Forum, Isa Yuguda, staunchly absolved the Tinubu administration of the prevailing economic conditions, noting that the government inherited an economy already made weary by the global pandemic.
He said that Tinubu did not create any of the challenges Nigerians are facing now, but he is championing reforms that are required to pave the way for a better society.
His words: “On assuming office, President Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy but again, for the avoidance of doubt, he did not remove subsidy on PMS. It was not in the later part of the 2023 budget, but surprisingly, the Tinubu administration has had to bear the brunt of subsidy removal.
“Let me quickly add that my opposition to fuel subsidy has been well documented since the Goodluck Jonathan years, when, as chairman of a subcommittee on the economic meltdown, we recommended its removal after discovering the scam being perpetrated in the name of fuel subsidy.
“A recent study also showed that in spite of the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, Nigeria still paid billions of naira for fuel subsidy even though, in reality, domestic fuel consumption was very low.
‘Indeed, the President has today been proved right with the manner in which petrol importation has gone down by 50% since June 2023, and it is almost certain to go down more in a few months when the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery begins to produce PMS locally, as well as the impending resumption of production at the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries.
Yuguda maintained that amidst the criticism trailing the fuel subsidy removal, the decision has unlocked volume of public funds now available for state governors to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.
“If any Nigerian is still in doubt about how payment of subsidy has over the years strained the country’s resources, they must have seen how the sub nationals now receive more than double what they used to get from Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
“At the last FAAC meeting, the total distributable revenue for April 2024 was N1.2 trillion, the highest ever disbursement in history. This time last year, in the subsidy era, what was shared was N655.8bn. So the subnationals, especially, are receiving double their previous allocations and therefore have more funds for critical infrastructure and should be doing more to provide succour to the people.
“The reform-minded Tinubu administration also unified the exchange rates, which inevitably sent those benefiting from arbitrage out of business. And of course, it did not take long before Nigeria began to reap the benefits, as the economy grew by 3.46% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with 2.54% in the preceding quarter. Also, Capital importation was up by 66% in Q4 of 2023 compared to a 33% decline in the previous quarter.”
National Chairman of the APC, Umar Ganduje, also enumerated steps taken by the Tinubu administration in the last one year to deliver on food production and social infrastructure, among others.
