Federal Govt replies Obasanjo: You’re ignorant of Buhari’s economic achievements

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Federal Government on Wednesday replied former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, saying that the former president is ignorant of Buhari’s achievements in the area of economy.

Obasanjo had written to Buhari, asking him not to seek re-election in 2019 and berated him over the poor state of the nation’s economy.

The Federal Government, in a statement issued by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, thanked Obasanjo for commending Buhari’s administration in the fight against corruption and tackling insurgency, but noted that the former president erred in the area of economy.

“Apparently, the former President believes that the Administration does not deserve a pass mark in the area of the economy, which is the third of our three-pronged campaign promises.

“We have no doubt that in the face of massive challenges in this area, this Administration has availed itself creditably. We believe that Chief Obasanjo, because of his very busy schedule, may not have been fully availed of developments in the government’s efforts to revamp the economy, which was battered by the consequences of over-dependence on a commodity as well as unprecedented pillaging of the treasury.

“Today, most of the indices by which an economy is measured are looking up. Permit me to say, however, that Nigeria would not have exited recession through a mere order or if the Administration had not made use of ”good Nigerians” who could help,” he said.

Mohammed said the administration was making steady progress in the area of economy, which exited the nation out of recession.

“Foreign reserves have peaked at $40b, the highest level in about four years, and up from $24 billion just a year ago, even though when we came in, the price of oil had crashed woefully.

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC), headline inflation has fallen for 11 consecutive months, standing at 15.37% as at Dec. 2017. This is the lowest inflation rate since Jan 2017, and it has met and surpassed the target set for inflation in the Administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

“Our determined implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has stopped the haemorrhaging of the treasury. Some 108 billion Naira has been saved from removal of maintenance fees payable to banks, pre-TSA. The nation is being saved 24.7 billion Naira monthly with the full implementation of the TSA.

“The elimination of ghost workers has saved the nation 120 billion Naira. At about 1.8 billion dollars, the capital inflows in the second quarter of 2017 were almost double the $908 million in the first quarter. In the wake of a stable Naira and increased investment inflows, Nigeria’s stock market emerged one of the best-performing in the world, delivering returns in excess of 40 percent,” he said.

Mohammed said Nigeria rose 24 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, and earned a place on the list of top 10 reformers in the world, saying that according to Q3 2017 figures, agriculture export was up year-on-year by 25%, solid minerals exports are up year-on-year by 78%, raw materials exports are up 70% year-on-year and manufactured goods exports are up 22% year-on-year.

He added that government agencies such as the Nigeria Customs Service were reporting highest-ever revenue collection, while JAMB, under the new management appointed by President Buhari in 2016, remitted N7.8 billion to the coffers of the federal government, lamenting that the total amount remitted by JAMB between 2010 and 2016 was a paltry N51 million.