Kwara senator Bukola Saraki on Tuesday claimed Nigeria is broke, blaming corruption and mismanagement.
Senator Saraki’s claim was dismissed by the federal government which, through the minister of state for finance, Bashir Yuguda, insisted the nation is absolutely not broke, Premium Times reports.
Yuguda named the oil sector as the main one keeping the country afloat. He challenged critics to come up with evidence of “what they mean for a country to be broken (sic)”, as “nobody has depleted our foreign reserves”.
“I have spoken to various people on this issue. We have never skipped holding Federation Account Allocation meeting for a month. We have not failed to pay salaries of workers, or missed our payment terms on the bond we raised in Nigeria. I do not know the issue about the country being broken,” Yuguda responded.
READ ALSO: Is PDP Responsible For Nigerian Economic Problems?
Nevertheless, Saraki insisted that Nigeria is really out of money and resources. “If you are having problem and are unable to meet your fiscal commitment and obligations, you are broken. Even the FAAC meeting has failed to hold twice because the Government could not see sufficient money in the account.”
The senator added, “We have to tighten our belt. Hard time is ahead. There is no point pretending there is no problem. This Government of President Jonathan lost a golden opportunity to prevent this problem before oil price dropped in the international market.”
Asked why the country is facing economic problems now, Saraki, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, blamed “leakages” and “mismanagement”. “Because we did not do the right thing when oil price had not declined,” the ex-Kwara governor explained. “Other countries in Asia also face this problem but they are not feeling the effects like we do because they are ready for this. They were not wasteful.”
“Mismanagement, corruption, wastage and leakages characterize oil subsidy management. Oil subsidy amounting to $8 billion annually accounts for about 80 per cent draw down from the ECA [the Excess Crude Account]. But with proper management and without corruption we could have been spending 20 per cent of that,” Saraki concluded.
Among other claims, he said Nigeria pays about $4 billion for the kerosene subsidy, but Nigerians are not benefiting.
Saraki also countered the claim of the minister of finance and the coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the pressure by state governments to share the ECA led to the depletion of the funds.
Nigeria’s ECA stands at about $2.45 billion while foreign reserves are down to $34.38 billion compared with $43.2 billion a year ago.
Senator Saraki’s claim was dismissed by the federal government which, through the minister of state for finance, Bashir Yuguda, insisted the nation is absolutely not broke, Premium Times reports.
Yuguda named the oil sector as the main one keeping the country afloat. He challenged critics to come up with evidence of “what they mean for a country to be broken (sic)”, as “nobody has depleted our foreign reserves”.
“I have spoken to various people on this issue. We have never skipped holding Federation Account Allocation meeting for a month. We have not failed to pay salaries of workers, or missed our payment terms on the bond we raised in Nigeria. I do not know the issue about the country being broken,” Yuguda responded.
READ ALSO: Is PDP Responsible For Nigerian Economic Problems?
Nevertheless, Saraki insisted that Nigeria is really out of money and resources. “If you are having problem and are unable to meet your fiscal commitment and obligations, you are broken. Even the FAAC meeting has failed to hold twice because the Government could not see sufficient money in the account.”
The senator added, “We have to tighten our belt. Hard time is ahead. There is no point pretending there is no problem. This Government of President Jonathan lost a golden opportunity to prevent this problem before oil price dropped in the international market.”
Asked why the country is facing economic problems now, Saraki, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, blamed “leakages” and “mismanagement”. “Because we did not do the right thing when oil price had not declined,” the ex-Kwara governor explained. “Other countries in Asia also face this problem but they are not feeling the effects like we do because they are ready for this. They were not wasteful.”
“Mismanagement, corruption, wastage and leakages characterize oil subsidy management. Oil subsidy amounting to $8 billion annually accounts for about 80 per cent draw down from the ECA [the Excess Crude Account]. But with proper management and without corruption we could have been spending 20 per cent of that,” Saraki concluded.
Among other claims, he said Nigeria pays about $4 billion for the kerosene subsidy, but Nigerians are not benefiting.
Saraki also countered the claim of the minister of finance and the coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the pressure by state governments to share the ECA led to the depletion of the funds.
Nigeria’s ECA stands at about $2.45 billion while foreign reserves are down to $34.38 billion compared with $43.2 billion a year ago.
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