The ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mohammed Sanusi, emphasized that it is unjust to solely blame Bola Tinubu for the prevailing economic difficulties in the country.
He said this in a recent virtual address at a religious event in Abuja.
Sanusi attributed the nation’s struggling economy to the mismanagement of economic policies over the past eight years.
He expressed his reluctance to partake in the criticism directed at Tinubu regarding the present economic challenges.
Sanusi said, “I have been, over the years, talking about the pending crisis ahead of the current economic hardship. Any economist who has studied monetary policy in the last eight years knows that Nigerians will fall into this difficult situation.
“The difficult situation Nigerians are facing is just the beginning (if the right decision is not put in place) because Nigeria is not exceptional; such situations happened in Germany, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Venezuela.
“The previous administration turned adamant about our appeal for corrective measures (on the economic policy). I have said in the presence of the now sitting president in Kaduna state, any politician who tells you that things will be easy, don’t vote for him because he is lying. People merely dismissed my advisory as a political statement.
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“If I am to be fair and just to President Bola Tinubu, he is not to blame for the current hardship; for eight years, we were living a fake lifestyle with huge debt from foreign and domestic debts. The Central Bank of Nigeria owes over N30 trillion, which resulted in debt service surpassing 100 percent.
“I can’t join other Nigerians criticising Tinubu on the current economic hardship, and I am not saying he is a saint free from wrongdoing, but in this current economic situation, President Tinubu is not to be blamed. I will also speak if I see any wrong economic policy of the Tinubu administration in the future, Stated.
He further stated that Tinubu’s choice to eliminate fuel subsidy deserves commendation.
He said, “It’s injustice for anyone to blame the Tinubu administration for the current economic hardship because there is no other alternative than the removal of the fuel subsidy. After all, Nigeria cannot even afford to pay the subsidy. In the last eight years, the Central Bank continued to print more money, and the naira continued to depreciate. There is too much naira in circulation because the CBN is printing the currency without restraint.
“The economy was poorly managed, and they are not willing to take advice; in the last eight years, apart from sycophancy, nothing has been done; those sycophants are those buying the dollar at the rate of N400 and selling it at the rate of N600 to N700.
“A boy who has no record of service has a private jet and owns houses in Dubai and England just because he is buying dollars at so a rate and selling them.
“I can only plead with the people to endure the hardship, and those who have the means to help the downtrodden should do so.
“I am also pleading with commoners to live according to their earnings; we must not peg our lives above our earnings in this difficult situation where people are looking for what to eat.”
In his inaugural address following the 2023 general elections, Tinubu declared the discontinuation of fuel subsidy. He emphasized that sustaining the subsidy was no longer viable for the country, highlighting that the substantial yearly expenditure on it should be redirected towards improving healthcare, transportation, education, housing, and national security, among other sectors.
However, subsequent to the subsidy removal, Nigerians faced significant challenges, including skyrocketing food prices and increased medication costs. This led to widespread hardship across the nation.
In response, citizens in various states such as Kano, Osun, and Niger took to the streets to protest against the exorbitant prices of essential commodities.
The demonstrators argued that the severe economic conditions had inflicted immense suffering on the populace in their respective states.