Economy in dire straits under Buhari, Tinubu unfortunate — Oshiomhole

Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) on Tuesday gave a damning report on the ex-President Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying President Bola Tinubu has the misfortune of inheriting a parlous state of the country particularly the economy.

“The government inherited a terrible economic situation. Everybody knows it. 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 repayment of debts, to service debt.

” So, you have only N4,000 left to pay all the salaries. Nothing can be worse. But they came determined that they will have to do business unusual, to arrest the drift, stabilise the economy and then begin to move forward.

“Some painful decisions are necessary. It is like any of us that have been unfortunate to have an ailment that requires surgery. If you want to pretend, you can be applying Vaseline, perfumes, creams and wear babariga to cover all the manifestations of that disease.

“But a trained doctor that believes in the ethics of medicine will tell you that you need a surgery. Surgery will be painful in the short run. They will give you a little bit of pain relief. But they only relief the pain; they won’t cure the disease.

“You need surgery and they wheel you to theatre. It might take three months, six months. But when you recover from that surgery and you bounce back and you obey all the rules of the game, some of which may require a new way of life, it may require change of lifestyle,” Oshiomhole told State House Correspondents after meeting with Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Describing the economic situation in the country as dire, Oshiomhole, a one-time National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), however, noted that the Tinubu administratoon’s approach and strategies to the economic problems have their challenges and side effects.

The former Edo governor stressed the need for the right decisions to be taken by the administration even if it requires more time and the resistance it may face.

On whether they discussed issues bordering on the economy, Oshiomhole said: “No I didn’t discuss that because I know they are working. The issues of the economy is work in progress. There is no quick fix. You will be back and find out you can do a relay race because you are fit. I think that is the kind of analogy we can draw in terms of where we are now.

“Already the Executive — the President and the Vice-President — they have 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 have moved away from a situation where CBN can favour you and you become a billionaire or 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 macro-economic policies that have been put in place so far both in terms of monetary policies and in terms of fiscal policies is 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.

“I think we are in a better situation now. But my plea to Nigerians is, when I say I will bail you out, I will fix a complicated system that is malfunctioning, I believe everyone knows that the more terrible the situation is, the more time I will require to take the right decision.

“Given the paucity of data and all the other basic infrastructure you need to take some quick decisions are not present, but decision has to be taken.”

The erstwhile President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), however, lauded the government’s efforts in implementing macro-economic policies and emphasized the importance of coordination between the Executive and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Oshiomhole said Nigeria is in safe hands with Tinubu as President.

Recalling his days as governor taking tough decisions, he said: “When I was a governor I did the same thing. I said let me use my first six months to take the false decisions. I might lose few friends in the process but when those decisions begin to manifest and translate to benefits I will regain, not just the friends I have lost, I will definitely win more friends.

“And that was what happened in Edo and by the time I was running for my second term, I got more votes than I got in my first term because some of the difficult decisions I took in my first term came to fruition.

“So, there is no quick fix and there is no miracle in the life of nation states. As they say, leaders and statesmen think of tomorrow, the short-sighted politicians think of what is politically convenient. I’m convinced that Nigeria is safe hands.”