•Says past govts caused recession
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
With a bleak economic outlook staring him in the face, President Muhammadu Buhari revealed how he almost absconded after he was sworn in on May 29, 2015.
The president said he met an empty treasury with 27, out of the 36 states unable to pay salaries.
Buhari said this during a presidential parley with members of the Senior Executive Course No. 38 (2016) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, at the State House, Abuja, yesterday.
An angry Buhari, who largely spoke extempore, said between 1999-2015, previous administrations of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) saved nothing for the rainy day; neither was any infrastructure developed while crude oil sold for $100 barrel per day.
The president said he found it difficult to believe that the revenue realised while crude was being pumped at 2.1 million barrels per day went to imported food and fuels.
He described marketers and elite who diverted petroleum products in connivance with banks, as wicked.
“For 16 years and eight consecutive governments of the other party and you know that there was unprecedented revenue realised, the oil projection, which can be verified was 2.1 million barrels per day.
“From 1999-2015, the average cost of each Nigerian barrel of oil was $100 per barrel. When we came, it fell to less than $30 per barrel and it is oscillates between $40 and $50…
“Actually I felt like absconding because 27 out of 36 states in Nigeria cannot pay salaries and we know they have no other source than to depend on salaries.
“And, I asked, any savings? I was told there were no savings. And, I asked, what have you done on agriculture, power, rails, roads? Nothing!
“I was told the money was used to import food and fuel. I didn’t believe the answer and I still don’t believe it. Until now, substantial number of people in the East eat garri and groundnut, in the West, it is pounded yam, cassava and vegetables, in the North, it is tuwo, which is made from any of the grains; millet, sorghum.
“They eat it at night and warm it in the morning and eat it and take fura da nunu in the afternoon. How many of those people can afford foreign food?”
Buhari commended participants of the Senior Executive Course 38 for taking up his challenge to participants of the Senior Executive Course 37, six months after he came into office and describing the theme as apt and timely.
He said: “I have looked forward to receiving this report because it touches on one of the fundamental problems confronting our nation. The report comes at a time when our economy is experiencing a downturn and all efforts are being made by the administration to get our country moving again.
“In the last one and half years of this administration, the economy has experienced some tough times, particularly with the decline in oil revenues, which has some harsh impacts on Nigerians at the grassroots. It is also important to note that the economic recession is not the making of this administration, but, rather, a consequence of bad management of the economy in the last cool of decades.
“It is impossible for this administration to ignore the poor who made great sacrifice to bring us to government. Ours more than any other government in the history of Nigeria is a people’s government. We therefore, must and we will keep faith with the people.
“It is in this light that I wish to declare the commitment of this administration to the Sustainable Development Goals, most especially to ending extreme poverty in Nigeria.
“It is not going to be easy, but we are committed to dealing with the challenges.”
In his remarks, Acting NIPSS Director-General, Jonathan Juma said a lot can be done if more robust budgetary support is extended to it.
“At the moment, I must confess to you that the institute is operating below its conceived capacity due to inability to attract a full complement of requisite staff who would conduct research across broad strategic areas of national life and also impact new knowledge,” he told the president.