Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Supervising Minister of the Economy has decried the parlous state of the economy inherited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Since he came to office in May President Tinubu has been struggling with how to fix the economy as Nigerians insist that their lives have been made worse in the last three months.
While some blamed Tinubu’s administration for the current state of the economy, not a few insist that his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari left things in a very bad shape before he left office on May 29.
President Tinubu and his predecessor, Buhari are both members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Notedly, critics of President Tinubu insist that the economic problems facing Nigerians have been made worse by some critical decisions taken by his administration, which, according to them include the removal of subsidies on fuel and the exchange rates of the naira.
The appointment of his cabinet ministers, some of them regarded as unqualified by his critics, has also been described as a false start by his administration in his quest to rejuvenate the economy.
But speaking after the Federal Executive Council, FEC meeting on Monday, Edun said his principal is trying to salvage the bad economic situation he inherited.
Lamenting, the minister said “Per capital has fallen steadily, inflation is at 24 percent, unemployment is high, you know they are rebasing the way in which it’s calculated. Either way, it is high and youth unemployment is even unacceptably high. These are the key metrics that we have met.
“We met a bad economy and the promise of Mr. President is to make it better.”
Meanwhile, not a few Nigerians insist that the Tinubu administration is already giving excuses why his government cannot deliver on the promises made to Nigerians.
Tinubu said before he became president that he was well prepared for the challenges facing the country because he’s the best man for the job.
He said: “There is no other one in the race hiding or open, I am the only one in the race and most competent and most qualified to be your president come year 2023.
“I am the only one who has been through the tutelage. I am the only one among them who has been consistent in one party. They are not stable. Some of them are rolling stones. I have been through the National Assembly.”
Nigerians are now asking what has changed, whether his government is already overwhelmed by the myriads of economic challenges facing the country after barely four months in office as President and Commander-in-chief.
