Buhari inherited a bad economy and made it worse – Soludo

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari had worsened the “very bad” economic situation he inherited when he assumed power in 2015.

Soludo spoke at the ‘Big Ideas Podium’, a public policy debate organised by the Afri Heritage Institution in Enugu, where he canvassed what he termed a “citizens united” campaign by Nigerians to demand change and accountability from government at all levels.

Besides Soludo, other speakers at the inaugural edition of the Big Ideas Podium were a former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke; a former Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Prof. Osita Ogbu; and a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Board, Prof. Akpan Ekpo.

Speaking on the theme of the debate, ‘Prognosis of the Nigerian Economy 2017’, Soludo said Nigeria was fast approaching the status of a failed state.

The former apex bank chief noted that it would take nothing short of a miracle for the Federal Government to return the naira to its exchange rate to the dollar as of the time Buhari took over on May 29, 2015.

He said, “Buhari met a very bad situation when he assumed power, but he has made the situation worse. Nigeria today is a fragile state with a failing economy. Some say failing state; some say failed state.

“The economy is not just in recession; we are suffering from massive economic compression. Saying it is recession trivialises the issue.

“It will be a miracle if after eight years, by the time it leaves office in 2023, the current administration is able to return the economy in dollar terms to the exchange rate it met when it took over.

“The truth is this government inherited a very bad situation, but it has made it very much worse.”

He criticised what he described as the “official policy of waiting for the oil price to rise.”

According to the former CBN governor, the government cannot be relied upon to provide the change that Nigerians desire.

The solution to the quest for change, according to him, is a citizens’ united campaign that will put government on its toes.

Culled from ThePunch