Prominent politicians and ex – officials of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government have lashed out at the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof Charles Soludo, describing him as a frustrated political jobber who is desperate to find relevance in the new dispensation. Those who took on him include a former Minister of National Planning, Dr Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, former Minister of Transport and member of the Board of Trustees, BOT of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, chieftain of Yoruba Socio- cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties( CNPP) Mr Osita Ezechukwu.
While reacting to Soludo’s remarks that former President Goodluck Jonathan had the worst economic management team at a lecture organized by Realnews Magazine, Dr Sulaiman said the statement was borne out of political desperation.
Soludo who spoke on the theme: “Can a New Buharinomics Save Nigeria’, tried to draw comparison between Nigeria’s economic growth rate and other fast developing economies like India, China, Russia, berating the past administration for poor management. He said: “Nigeria is at war with itself, and is currently on the ‘High Alert’ list of Failed/Fragile States. Surprisingly, this ignoble status of Nigeria as a ‘High Alert’ failed state (bequeathed by PDP) does not even feature in our public discourse.” Reacting further, the minister said Soludo’s analysis lacked substance since he had earlier agreed that Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa and 26th in the world. In a statement sent to Sunday Sun, Sulaiman said: “I will rather prefer that Ndigbo respond to him. It was purely an ethnic/elitist issue. Besides, if he could admit the fact that Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa and 26th in the world; what other indices is he using to measure a good manager? Soludo is a politician and what he is doing is pure politics; a manifestation of a frustrated jobber.”
Contrary to Soludo’s lamentation, he praised President Jonathan for the comprehensive blueprint on infrastructure development which his administration handed over to the current government, expressing fears, however, that there might be policy summersault, as President Buhari seems not to be excited about implementing the programme. In an exclusive interview with Sunday Sun in Abuja (to be published next week) Olanrewaju said: “The point I am making is that there are difficulties; the country is in its trying times. But Nigerians do not want to listen to any excuse. What they want is solution to their problems. The time for lamentation was the campaign period. But now, the time for lamentation has gone. Buhari should sit down and do the job.”
He added: “If Nigeria wants to catch up with other nations, we need to re-examine the planning structure of the country. Before I left, I was able to formulate a national infrastructure master plan which was designed to fix infrastructure for the next 30 years and I took it to FEC (Federal executive Council) for approval. Nobody is talking about that policy any more. When President Muahammadu Buhari was asked the solution for national infrastructure, his said there was no money. That shouldn’t be the answer because that document is not just Jonathan’s document, it is Nigeria’s document. It is a blueprint for infrastructure development. More than a thousand Nigerians were involved in its formulation. With the current trends, I am envisaging a policy summersault. This government is talking about certain policies which are already contained in the blueprints we handed over to the administration.”
Babatope took a swipe at Soludo for disparaging the Jonathan administration, describing his statement as the ranting of a confused person. His words: “When he was there, what did he tell Jonathan as an expert? Apparently, he is just saying things just for the sake of it. We should not take him seriously at all. I am alarmed that a person of Soludo’s calibre is saying that kind of nonsense. Apparently, every government has its own teething problems. Jonathan had his own, but he wriggled out of it. What Soludo said is just the ranting of a confused person.” Adebanjo on his own part, charged the Buhari administration to find urgent solution to the socio-economic problems confronting the nation, rather than focusing on the past. He said: “Jonathan is no longer there; why is he (Soludo) referring to what he did. I am not bothered about what he did right, or what he did wrong. Let him put pressure on those who are there now to find solution to our problems. They are elected there to solve our problems, they are not there to give reasons why they cannot solve the problems. I don’t partake in the argument about what happened in the past. Talking about Jonathan is looking into the past. The present government should solve the problems. That is my own take on the matter.”
But Ezechukwu has thrown his weight behind Soludo, saying oil subsidy under the Jonathan administration was a huge fraud. “Oil subsidy was a big fraud. You could see the astronomic rise from N266 billion in 2011 to N1.1 trillion in 2015. With prudence by the present government now, it has been reduced. If the economic team was good, it wouldn’t have been that high. It suggests a profile of profligacy and squander mania by the Jonathan administration. The economy now has a good direction. Fuel subsidy should be in phases and not automatic; for one swoop removal will be very harmful. It will trigger off spiral inflation of unimaginable proportion. The unintended consequences will be too grave for our economy. Rather, government should enter into Public/ Private Partnership ( PPP) arrangement for modular refineries which will cushion the drain on foreign exchange. We can’t run away in one day from the hazards of the nebulous International Monetary Fund( IMF), economic policies of the past 30 years, which distorted growth, impoverished our people and widened poverty.”
Soludo had suggested removal of subsidy in his presentation at the forum. Since Thursday, reactions have continued to trail the remark of the former CBN governor.SUN
