Olisa Agbakoba, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can resolve the revenue shortage by tackling graft and making the anti-graft agency effective to discourage people.
Agbakoba stated this in a statement to the media over the weekend, noting that it was imperative for the President to act now.
The legal luminary further advised the President to maximise crude oil outputs by removing the international oil companies from control of the nation’s hydrocarbons revenue, noting that they were paying down debts and hedging the naira against the dollar with crude oil dollars.
“So, there is a simple solution. I urge President Tinubu to look at how President Obasanjo resolved his money headaches.
“First, President Obasanjo tackled Corruption and plugged waste. Nuhu Ribadu saw to that, as the fear of Nuhu was the beginning of wisdom.
“Second and most important was that president Obasanjo understood what is called public sector borrowing requirements and how much was needed to sustain the National system. Most important was President Obasanjo’s clear vision of how to raise revenue,” he said.
According to him, “This was from optimal production of crude oil. The revenue from crude oil was fully maximised. Crude oil daily production was at maximum capacity. Funds from sales of crude propped the Naira value to the dollar.
Read also: Agbakoba to Tinubu: Boost oil production to 2.4 mbpd to prop naira’s value, end economic crunch
“The Government was able to get things done without borrowing but using crude oil revenue. President Tinubu must reverse the trend by maximizing crude oil outputs, removing the international oil companies from control of our hydrocarbons’ revenue, paying down debts and hedging the Naira against the dollar with crude oil dollars.
“So, quite simply, President Tinubu should maximise crude oil production to at least, 2.4 million barrels a day, pay down debts, apply funds to meet national needs. If this simple fiscal process is sustained, Nigeria will be out of this desperate situation within six months.”
