Godwin Obaseki, the governor of Edo state has said the federal government lacks the capacity to weather the economic storm of Nigeria.
Obaseki who was featured as a guest on Channels Television on Thursday night said Nigeria is “technically bankrupt”, even as it’s reeling from various economic crises.
This statement comes as the oil-producing state prepares for a gubernatorial election in less than three days that would see him leave office after eight years.
“Nigeria is technically bankrupt. The federal government does not have the capacity to manage the economy the way it is doing today,” Obaseki said.
Obaseki decried the way the current administration has been handling the affairs of the country, stating that the FG needs to reorganize and restructure the state of Nigeria’s economy for the government to meet its obligations.
The governor stated that Nigeria may be in financial distress soon if it continues to spend without expanding its earnings.
“We don’t have enough to cover our expenditure and we are not reducing our expenditure and we are not earning more,” he lamented.
When asked what he could have done differently, the Edo state governor said Nigeria needs to decentralize more powers to its component parts for actual economic growth.
He said Nigeria is producing 1.3 million barrels of oil per day because the government chose to do it centrally, adding that Edo has 147 oil wells but only 53 or less are producing.
“Except we create a new design where you ask the component parts of this country to go and take advantage of all the economic opportunities they have to swell the assets of this country and pay what needs to be paid to the central government, we may not be out of the economic crisis soon,” Obaseki said.
