Updated: Buhari’s administration is not responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes- NEC

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is not responsible for the country’s current economic situation but is a team set to rescue
Nigeria, members of the National Economic Council (NEC) said on Thursday.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufa’i and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma who briefed journalists after the Council meeting wants Nigerians to understand that government at the Federal and State levels are also incapacitated financially for reasons not of their making.The duo who created a mild drama while trying to assert who should actually be held responsible for the current state of the country,
were reacting to public outcry blaming the Buhari led government which came into power 19 months ago for bringing hardship on the people as
the country faces its first economic recession in 25 years.Nigeria fell into recession in the first quarter of 2016 and has took a dip for worse in the third quarter following negative growth of 2.24
percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

While Udoma blamed the previous government for not saving in the time of boom, El-Rufai said those who blamed the Buhari led administration
for impoverishing them were not not being charitable.

Their assertion came barely 48 hours after President Buhari presented a N7.298 trillion budget of “Recovery and Growth”, before the joint session of the National Assembly for the 2017 fiscal year.The 2017 budget seeks to increase agriculture output and productivity, promote domestic manufacturing and ‘Made in Nigeria’ goods, through intervention funds, eliminate costly Joint Venture cash calls for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and increase funding for infrastructure, especially roads, rail and power. According to Udoma “we did not and are not responsible for the current economic situation we find ourselves. We are actually a rescue team, a team working on rescuing Nigeria from the position we find ourselves in.“Under President Muhammadu Buhari, we are determined to take Nigeria out of the situation. The situation started long before we came.

“As you know, oil price started falling from 2014 when it was about $110 and by January this year, it was below $30. Unfortunately, they
did not save.

“None of us here now were there but we are not going to spend our time looking backwards, we are determined to change things in this country.
We are determined to take Nigeria from a consuming nation to a consuming nation. That is why we are developing the economic recovery
and growth plan and that is our focus. We are committed to success”.

On the other hand El-Rufai said “When people say that this administration has impoverished them, they are not being charitable
because I have said we inherited a governmental structure that was based on the assumption that price of oil will remain $100 per barrel.

“By the time we took over, prices reduced to as low as $26 per barrel. 80% of government revenue depends on the price of oil and the quantity
of oil sold.

“You must expect a cut in your consumption if the price collapses. If in your own household, your salary is slashed by 80%, what will you do?

“This is what Nigeria is going through. Our revenues have collapsed by about 40% to 60% if you compare it to say 2014.

“This collapse happened because there is a reduction in price of oil. Secondly, we were producing over two million barrels of oil per day
but because of the situation in the Niger Delta, we are now producing about 1.1million barrels per day.

“It is therefore inevitable that there will be cut and pain. But to say that it is government that is doing it without referring to the
cause is not fair.

“When I left government as minister in 2007, we left $40billion in reserves and $27 billion in the Excess Crude Account, that was what we handed over to Yar’Adua.

“Coming back as the governor of Kaduna State, the people that came after us have blown the money. They blew all we left behind, blew what
they earned and borrowed, leaving President Buhari and his team to clear the mess. Nobody is even talking about that.”