A former presidential spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, Sunday, said President Bola Tinubu has not disappointed Nigerians in his address to the nation on the nationwide protests.
Okupe, a former Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, made this remark in an interview in Lagos while reacting to the president’s broadcast.
“President Bola Tinubu’s speech has not disappointed Nigerians in that for the first time, the president clearly stated the daunting economic situation his administration met on ground at inception.
“He also amplified the strenuous efforts made by his government to reduce the prevailing crippling and stagnating debt servicing ratio from 97 per cent of earned revenue to 68 per cent.
“In truth, this has been the major cause of our present economic woes and sufferings.
“It is now self-evident that if the fuel subsidy was not removed, it would have been impossible for the government to function.
“And the government will not be able to meet its obligations, without continuing the profligacy of massive and sustained borrowing to fund the subsequent national budgets,” Okupe said.
He stated further that the speech highlighted to Nigerians’ delight, the giant and commendable strides of achievements already accomplished by this administration within 14 months of its existence.
Okupe said: “Some of the most outstanding achievements of this administration, as contained in the speech, include “the more than doubling of the minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 per month.’’
He talked about Tinubu’s implementation and commitment of more than N45 billion to the students loan scheme and the raising of the national oil production capacity to more than 1.6 million barrels per day.”
Okupe also highlighted the massive funding of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which, he said, were the engine of economic growth of any country.
He commended the president for the provision of billions of Naira directly targeted at relieving the current hardship on the poor as well as the massive funding of various youths developmental programmes and projects.
Okupe also applauded the federal government for the huge investment deployed toward infrastructure and agriculture.
He said: “It is also worthy to note from the speech the government’s commitment to reduce the prevailing high cost of living and also bring down the food inflation.
“This is through the temporary massive importation of foods and removal of tariffs and other import duties on foods, drugs and medical supplies, amongst others, for the next six months.
“I personally believe that this administration’s scorecard or performance compares very well if not better than those of many administrations before it.”
(NAN)^
