Naira Depreciation and Poor State of Economy due to PDP Mismanagement Consequences, Massive Looting – Lai Mohammed

Nigerian Government has said that the poor state of the country’s economy, especially depreciation in the naira exchange rate is the direct consequence of the incomprehensible mismanagement of the economy and the mindless looting of the national treasury under the immediate past Administration, rather than any so-called mismanagement by the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this in a statement on Sunday December 13, 2015 that there is still no honour left among looters as the leaders of the party under watch then had the nation’s economy suffering a monumental mismanagement and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was turned to the ATM or piggy bank of a few. “Some people still have the temerity to insult a government that is working hard to turn things around for the citizens, who are bearing the brunt of such mismanagement,” he observed.

The Minister said: ”It is now clear to all Nigerians that if the PDP had won the last general elections, Nigeria’s economy would not have survived one more month, considering the battering it received under the immediate past Administration. It is therefore unconscionable that those who should show contrition and humility to avoid public disgrace are the same ones pointing accusing fingers at the Buhari Administration.”

Lai Mohammed described the comments credited to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu which stated that ‘businesses may collapse in the next six months because the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration has mismanaged the economy’ as the clearest indication that the PDP and its leaders are still in denial of the massive destruction they inflicted on the Nigerian economy.

According to him, Ike Ekweremadu (Senator) complained about the depreciation of the naira without telling Nigerians, who ‘dollarized’ the Nigerian economy by bribing many individuals and groups with dollars during the last elections, thereby causing a downward drift on the local currency. Adding, he also failed to tell Nigerians which government presided over the frenzied mop-up of dollars, either for ‘arms – gate’ or for slush fund purposes from the CBN to a point where it almost ran out of the hard currency.

The Minister inferred that though the Buhari Administration met an economy that was in coma, it has refused to use that as an excuse for inaction, hence has been working hard on measures that will turn the economy around and greatly offer relief to Nigerians by lifting millions, not thousands of people out of poverty through a massive social intervention policy. He further noted that the outcome of the months of hard work will manifest soon in the 2016 national budget that will give succor to millions of Nigerians, who are reeling from the fallout of the mistake of the immediate past Administration which has turned the country into a cash market.

He advised the leaders of PDP and members of the immediate past Administration, who are involved in the emerging cases of looting spree to urgently return to government coffers, the funds they have taken from the treasury. ”They are lucky that Nigerians are not as reckless as they are, otherwise they would not be able to walk around freely; not even to have the confidence challenge the Government which inherited their rot or the citizens suffering the consequences.

”They looted the billions of naira that were allocated for the fight against insurgency, causing many innocent and patriotic soldiers to die needlessly. Yet, they are not remorseful. They looted the treasury to influence the last elections, doling out money as if it was going out of fashion, yet they have continued in brag,” he stated.

”In the latest revelation, a Minister under the immediate past dispensation admitted to sharing 600 million naira to six Chairmen of the Contact and Mobilization Committee of the PDP for the last general elections, 300 million naira to an account given by a former PDP Chairman, 200 million naira to a PDP governorship candidate and 100 million naira to a former PDP Governor. This is just one case out of many, yet these revelations are but a tip of the iceberg of what Nigerians will hear in the days ahead.”

The Minister assured that despite the mind-boggling revelations about looting and the mismanagement by self-styled economic wizards, the economy will bounce back under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is bringing probity and transparency back into governance. [FMI]