The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to allow competent, transparent and honest hands to effectively manage the country’s economy.
The party said that this is the only way to save the nation from an imminent economic collapse.
In a statement he issued yesterday, Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman for the PDP, the party said that the report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, the economy has plunged into another recession within five years, confirmed the party’s position that the Buhari Presidency and the APC lacked the competence and integrity to run a national economy.
It read: “The report (NBS’) shows that the Buhari administration and the APC have been lying to Nigerians with false performance claims when they know that they have, in a space of five years, wrecked and plundered our economy, which was rated as one of the fastest growing economies of the world, when they took over from the PDP.
“Indeed, President Buhari will be the first President, in our history, to score a hat-trick, in plunging his nation into economic recession, both as military and civilian leader.”
PDP said that the relapse to economic recession was a fall out of President Buhari and APC’s restrictive, vindictive and anti-trade policies, bizarre foreign exchange controls and monetary policies that impede growth.
Also, it listed over-bloated public sector that encourages waste and incurable corruption, reckless treasury looting and failure to decisively deal with the escalated insecurity, which has destroyed economic activities in most parts of the country, as contributing factors.
“While the Buhari Presidency pretends to be running a free market economy, it is in reality, running a corrupt exclusionist market economy tailored to service the interest of a selfish few while frustrating millions of hard working Nigerians with restrictive policies, lack of access to incentives and support as well as high taxes and levies,” PDP said.
“This has crippled domestic production and competiveness, eroded investors’ confidence and occasioned a dearth in foreign direct investment, leading to the economic contraction we have continued to witness under Buhari’s watch.
“President Buhari should end the corruption and divisive tendencies of his administration and allow a free market economy so that more Nigerians will actively participate in the economic space to boost our productive sectors and bring our economy back to its feet.
“Indeed if the APC administration continues in its corrupt and restrictive market economy, our nation will descend into a huge economic depression.”