Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Buhari Media Organisation has described the warning by the Zamfara State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governor Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari, that the country risks another recession in the few years, as wrong and misguided.
The group said that it was aligning with the position of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (NCCI) to debunk the statement credited to Governor of Zamfara State at the Nigerian Governors Forum
Yari had in his address at induction for new and returning governors held last Monday, cautioned his colleagues to brace up for another recession in 2020, if nothing was done to diversify and reposition the country’s economy. But BMO, in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the group said Nigerians should disregard the warning as false alarm.
“Nigerians should dismiss the false alarm raised by Governor Yari because the Buhari administration runs the Nigerian economy on an economic template of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) with a robust roadmap towards sustainable growth,” it said.
The Buhari lobby group said although Nigeria’s population growth currently outpaces Nigeria’s economic growth, recent indices had also put the country’s economy on the trajectory of growth.
It added that just like the CBN forecast shows, the country’s GDP will record a sustained growth trajectory from its present 1.9 per cent to 3 per cent in 2019 and attain the single digit inflation target encapsulated in the ERGP.
“How can Nigeria slip back into recession when there is a tight monetary policy which has seen an increase in the nation’s foreign Reserves to $44.3 billion dollars from $22 billion dollars left by the PDP administration?
“How can Nigeria slip back into recession when there are deliberate attempts at revamping Nigeria’s rail system, deepening road networks and giving facelifts to airports across the country?
“How can Nigeria slip back into recession when reforms like Treasury Single Account (TSA) have been actively pursued to cut down on the leakages from the public treasury?
“How can Nigeria slip back into recession when the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) managed by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) grew by $350 million?” it stated.
According to BMO, the indicators were easily verifiable; there is a deliberate policy direction to lift more Nigerians out of poverty, it is evident from the impact assessment and independent report of the administration’s social investment programmes (SIP) that had touched 13 million Nigerians across the youth, women, and children demography.
