Economic Security: Senate Calls Economic Committee Addressing Hardship
The Senate calls on President Tinubu's economic team to explain Nigeria's economic turmoil and food shortages. Proposed solutions include reassessing food import policies, subsidizing farmers, and boosting infrastructure investment to promote food security and unity among Nigerians.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's economic team has been called before the Senate due to the country's failing economy, hunger, and declining value. Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank, was invited by the Senate to appear last Friday.
However, after he addressed the members of the House of Representatives, the Senate changed the invitation and requested that all members of President Tinubu's economic team attend.
A number of individuals make up the economic team, including CBN Governor Cardoso, Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Finance Olawale Edun, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Zacch Adedeji, and Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Bashir Adewale Adeniyi.
The Senate Committee on Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions chairman, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, who was involved in the development of Tinubu's economic policies, stated that Cardoso's attendance at the House of Representatives prevented the panel from meeting with the governor of the CBN yesterday.
"To that extent, it will appear that on our part, we'll have to adjourn until Friday the 9th of February.
The panel took the decision after one hour of waiting for Cardoso to no avail.
Cardoso was present in the House of Representatives chamber when he was questioned by members in a plenary session.
“The reason, too, I think I should explain, is that tomorrow there is a session with the Service Chiefs, and of course that might extend till Thursday, because they are issues of very serious concern to us.
“So, in order to play safe and have enough time to also interact properly with the economic team in this instance, meaning that we might extend the invitation beyond V governor to also include members of the economic team,” Abiru said.
Nigeria's hardship, according to High Chief Peter Ameh, a former chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), is the result of the removal of fuel subsidies. Ameh claims that the removal of fuel subsidies has left Nigeria in a state of hunger, depression, and criminality with no strategy in place to mitigate the effects.
“The rich are not cutting back on unnecessary government spending, flying private jets, globetrotting at the expense of the poor and living luxurious lifestyles while they tell the poor to tighten their belts.
“What the federal government has done is akin to robbing Peter to pay Paul: removing the only rare benefit the poor gets from the rich and transferring the same to the rich. Ever since the removal, transportation has quadrupled, and the cost of goods and services have all also quadrupled,” he said. Finance Minister Defends Economy Under Tinubu.
According to Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, the state of the economy has significantly improved since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023.
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The minister made this assertion during a House of Representatives interactive meeting on the state of the economy with a few members of the Economic Team, which he leads. Together with CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, Ayo Adedeji, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Edun addressed the lawmakers.
“We are in a much better place,”
Edun said to the lawmakers who were trying to get answers on behalf of Nigerians about the current economic hardship. He said, for instance, that oil production which went as low as below one million barrels per day sometime last year had come up to about 1.65mbp today and is rising. This he attributed to ongoing efforts at tackling oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
And, according to him, “This is the quickest way to give relief.” He further noted that the bold measures taken by President Tinubu's government since assumption of resonating around the world. “We go to the IMF meetings, UNGA meetings, G20 meetings, and there is nothing but pride and admiration and deep respect for the courage that has been shown economically in Nigeria,” he stated.
He added that the removal of fuel subsidies, which also put an end to gasoline smuggling, had resulted in a notable 20 million liter reduction in fuel consumption.
The economy has substantially improved since President Bola Tinubu took office, according to Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy. This was stated in May 2023.
The minister made this assertion while having an interactive discussion about the state of the economy with a few members of the Economic Team, which he leads, in the House of Representatives. Edun addressed the lawmakers alongside Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Chairman Ayo Adedeji, CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.
He pleaded for a little more tolerance and understanding from the citizens, assuring them that the actions already taken will soon come together to produce better economic results. Edun acknowledged that inflation had caused a rise in the cost of living, but he blamed a number of misguided economic policies for the nation's problems over time.
Labour Party and PDP Criticize APC for Politicizing Hardship
The opposition yesterday denounced the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Bola Tinubu for trying to politicize the Nigerian people's protest against the country's increasing economic hardship and rising levels of insecurity. In separate statements, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party claimed that the anti-people policies and purported corruption of the Tinubu-led APC administration were the reason behind the protest.
The opposition was accused of starting the recent protests in Kano and Niger states due to the hardships facing the nation by the APC and the president. The APC threatened Nigerians for exercising their democratic and constitutional right to protest in the face of misrule, excruciating poverty, hunger, killings, and other horrific experiences under the Tinubu administration, according to Hon. Debo Ologunagba, national publicity secretary of the PDP. He said that the APC was pushing Nigerians to the limit and daring them to do their worst, rather than listening to the people.
The Labour Party (LP) asserted that the country's sponsored protests were started and are maintained by the ruling APC. LP called the APC's claims that protests against the current economic hardships were being orchestrated by opposition parties absurd.
In a statement, Obiora Ifoh, the LP's national publicity secretary, stated that “every reasonable Nigerian knows that the APC is the originator and sustainer of sponsored protests.”
The Labour Party recommended that the APC forego this propaganda parade and instead focus on finding solutions to Nigeria's problems, particularly the economic ones that it caused.
“Those who took to the streets in Minna, Niger State, a state controlled by the APC went to the streets not as members of opposition parties but as citizens bearing the brunt of this administration's ineptitude and lack of preparation for governance.
“Irrespective of party affiliations, religious and ethnic creed, we all go to the same market where the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed. Our children have had to stay home because their parents can no longer afford their school fees. Because of lack of planning, the federal government is yet to pay January salaries.”
FG Forms Committee to Address Food Crisis
A critical meeting was convened by the federal government yesterday to address the problem of food shortages and high costs in the nation.
The task of finding solutions for the millions of Nigerians affected by the scarcity of accessible and reasonably priced food falls to the special presidential committee.
This was just the first of several meetings on the food crisis that were scheduled for this week.
Mohammed Idris, the minister of information, spoke to State House correspondents following the meeting and expressed his deep concern about the extreme hardships people are going through, particularly in light of yesterday's events in Minna where people's desperation over food accessibility broke out. According to him, possible relief measures that were considered included negotiating the opening of food stores by major commodity traders and millers and releasing stockpiles from the National Food Reserves located throughout Nigeria.
Elders in the North Oppose the Inflation Rate
The unchecked rise in inflation in Nigeria, which is a serious threat to the wellbeing of the populace, has drawn concern from the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).
The Northern elders said in a statement released by NEF's director of publicity and advocacy/speaker, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, that there is widespread hunger and malnourishment as a result of rising living expenses, especially for food.
The disjunction between the reality on the ground and the actions—or lack thereof—of our leaders is depressing, according to NEF.
“While millions of Nigerians are struggling to put food on the table and make ends meet, those in power seem to be living in isolation or denial. This indifference to the suffering of the people they are meant to serve is deeply troubling,” it said.
“The consequences of this unchecked rise in inflation are devastating for ordinary Nigerians. Families are finding it increasingly difficult to afford basic necessities, as the prices of essential commodities such as rice, beans, and cooking oil continue to skyrocket. This dire situation has resulted in a rise in malnutrition, particularly among children, as families are forced to prioritize their limited resources.”
The elders stated that given these difficulties, the government must act quickly to resolve the situation before it sends the country into further turmoil and conflict. The government was urged to act decisively to stop corruption and unnecessary spending, stressing that mishandling public funds only makes inflation worse and erodes public confidence. It stated that in order to rebuild trust in the leadership, accountability and openness must be maintained at all governmental levels.
FG Is Going To Stop Importing Food In the midst of the nation's hunger, the federal government has declared that it will make sure Nigeria both consumes and produces what it consumes going forward in an effort to get the nation off the list of dumping nations.
In order to make this a reality, the federal government has started working with local governments nationwide to promote good governance, which is essential to achieving Nigeria's development goals and the current administration's goal of ensuring food security.
In order to actualize this, the federal government has started interacting with and providing assistance to local governments throughout the nation regarding good governance, which is essential to achieving Nigeria's development agenda and the current administration's goal of achieving food security.
According to the SGF, the federal government is aware of the difficulties local governments across the country face in managing agricultural resources.
The local government is the foundation of agricultural resources, according to the chief executive of SEGNIP Promotions Limited, Engr Kayode Adegbayo, who organized the ongoing workshop. He asserted that the moment the government made the right decisions with the local governments, the nation would have set itself up for enormous agricultural success and easily ended food importation.
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