Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has raised the alarm over the imminent collapse of the county’s economy, saying the President Muhammadu Buhari led All Progressives Congress (APC) government was yet to show any sign that it has any solution to the dwindling economy.
The governor, who called on Nigerians to prevail on President Buhari to stay at home and govern the country, said it was the height of insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians that the President, who just returned from trips to France and United Kingdom will again be traveling to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar from February 20 to 27, spending seven days out of Nigeria in what they called “three-nation tour.”
Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor lamented the lack of a clear cut economic direction from the Federal Government, saying, “It is worrisome that President Buhari does not have any economic team and there is no policy direction yet, despite spending close to nine months in office.”
Fayose said: “The implication of the President’s obvious lack of the required mental capacity to tackle the nation’s economic problems and the resultant effects are human right abuses, prices of goods and services skyrocketing, daily retrenchment of workers, folding up of businesses, States finding it difficult to pay workers salary and the Federal Government not being able to prepare common budget.”
The governor described what is being experienced by Nigerians as the sum total of President Buhari’s mental capacity, adding that “With President Buhari, Nigeria is definitely having a square peg in its round hole.
“Dollar has gone double since Dr Goodluck Jonathan left office, with US Dollar exchanging for N350 as at today, Foreign Reserve is declining on daily basis, Boko Haram insurgents have come back even stronger than they were when Buhari assumed office and Nigerians are now being made to pay more for electricity that is not available for them to use.
“Most importantly, prices of foodstuffs, newsprint, medicine among others have gone over the roof. Should we still continue to attribute all these to Jonathan or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
“Even former Central Bank Governor (CBN) and Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is saying that President Buhari’s anti-corruption stance is totally inconsistent with the forex regime he supported and that the Federal Government Forex Policy encourages corruption and rent-seeking.
“Funny enough, some people are already talking about President Buhari’s second term not minding the reality that anybody thinking about Buhari’s second term is only planning to snuff life out of Nigerians,” the governor said.
While urging the president to focus more on the dwindling economy and stay at home to attend to critical issues, Governor Fayose said, “Travelling from one country to another won’t solve any of our problems because I have not seen where foreigners assist any nation to develop.
“The President should know that Nigerians are suffering and they do not need their President to junket around the world, to alleviate their sufferings.”
