The Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Comrade Debo
Adeniran, has described the promise of the Coordinating Minister of the
Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that Nigeria
is ready for the worst as an empty promise that Nigerians cannot relied
on.
“We cannot rely on Okonjo-Iweala because this is not the
first or second time they have made such promise which they could not
keep. Look at the Sure-P which they promised would be used to cushion
the effect of oil price increase, ” he said.
“Adeniran said the
action of the Federal Government fell below expectation because in the
midst of the falling price of oil at the international market, the
government is supposed to reduce the price of petroleum products at the
local market.
He stated that as long as the government did not do
that, the ordinary Nigerians would continue to bear the brunt of the
falling oil price and the naira exchange rate, adding; “When they
increased the prices of petroleum products, they made us to understand
that it was done because of the rising price of crude oil at the
international market, now that the price is tumbling, they should reduce
the prices.”
Adeniran expressed disappointment with the decision
of government to increase tariffs on luxury items without doing
anything to cut down the cost of governance in the country.
“I
expected the government to announce a reduction in allowances and other
benefits of political office holders, but as long as that is not done,
every other measure would be counter-productive,”.
He advised the
government to adopt a national ideology as introduced by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo during the time as military head of state.
The policy, according to Adeniran, helped to regulate the number of cars
and other luxury items that public officers enjoyed.
He
described the recent introduction of austerity measure as hypocritical
because the President alone is currently enjoying about 10 aircrafts.
“I
don’t expect that the president of the country should have about 10
aeroplanes in his fleet and the same government is of talking of
austerity
measure,” he said.
But the national president of Aka Ikenga,
Barrister Goddy Uwazulike, described Okonjo-Iweala as a dependable
expert whose ideas and suggestions are capable of turning the economy
around. He said Nigeria should count herself lucky to have somebody like
her in government at this time.
“She had served the World Bank.
During Obasanjo’s government when she was the minister of finance,
Nigeria was able to enjoy debt forgiveness,” he said.
SOURCE:Daily Independent
