Since I have decided to come here, you have to accept
what I have said here. And please, if you do not want to hear the truth, never
invite me.
Muhammad Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano, has raised the alarm
over unfavourable economic policies leading the country to bankruptcy, urging
President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the fraudulent subsidy regime.
Sanusi, who was former governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, made the revelation on Tuesday while speaking at the ongoing 3rd
National Treasury Workshop organized by the office of the Accountant General of
the Federation holding in Coronation Hall, Government House, Kano.
He said, “The country is bankrupt and we are heading for
bankruptcy. What happened is that the federal government do pay petroleum
subsidy, pay electricity tariff subsidy, and if there is a rise in interest
rates, Federal Government pays.
“What is more life-threatening than the subsidy that we have
to sacrifice education, health sector and infrastructure for us to have cheap
petroleum.
“If truly President Buhari is fighting poverty, he should
remove the risk on the national financial sector and stop the subsidy regime
which is fraudulent.”
"Since I have decided to come here, you have to accept
what I have said here. And please, if you do not want to hear the truth, never
invite me.
“So let us talk about the state of public finance in
Nigeria. We have a number of very difficult decisions that we must make, and we
should face the reality. His Excellency, the President said in his inaugural
speech that his government would like to lift 100 million people out of
poverty, it was a speech that was well received not only in this country but
the world-wide.
“The number of people living with poverty in Nigeria are
frightening. By 2050, 85 percent of those living in extreme poverty in the
world will be from the African continent. And Nigeria and the Democratic
Republic of Congo will take the lead.
“Two days ago, I read that the percentage of the
government's revenue going to debt services has risen to 70 percent.
“And then, you continue subsidizing petroleum products; and
spending N1.5 trillion per annum on petroleum subsidy. And then we are subsidizing
electricity tariff. And maybe, you have to borrow from the capital market or
the Central Bank of Nigeria to service the shortfall in the electricity tariff,
where is the money to pay salaries, where is the money for education, where
other government projects."
0 Comments