Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has accused ex-President Muhammadu Buhari of being a reckless spender of Nigeria’s wealth, plunging the country and its people into grinding poverty with a prostrate economy to grapple with.
Mr Obasanjo, who ruled the country between 1999 and 2007, said Mr Buhari did not understand economics and borrowed and spent money without any plan or accountability. He also dismissed the current President Bola Tinubu’s foreign trips as futile and wasteful.
Mr Obasanjo made these remarks in an interview with The Cable published on Tuesday, where he shared his experience on how Nigeria could solve its debt crisis.
He said Mr Buhari was spending money recklessly and leaving Nigeria in an ocean of debt.
“Buhari was spending money recklessly. I know Buhari didn’t understand economics. I put that in my book. But that he could also be so reckless, I didn’t know,” Mr Obasanjo said.
He also asserted that Mr Tinubu’s junketing around the world would not “solve any problem.”
He said Mr Tinubu’s decision to trim down the number of government officials attending the United Nations General Assembly to save cost was nothing new.
“Tinubu says he has trimmed the number of people attending the United Nations General Assembly. Is that news? He will meet with Justin Trudeau, and he will meet with Emmanuel Macron. That will not solve any problem,” Mr Obasanjo said.
His criticisms came a few days after Mr Tinubu, at the Nigerian Bar Association conference, condemned debt accumulation by his predecessor, calling it a “path to destruction.”
Nigeria’s debt profile in eight years under Mr Buhari hit N46 trillion, according to the Debt Management Office. Mr Buhari claimed that they were loans obtained for infrastructural development, but Mr Obasanjo disputed this claim.
On Monday, former Central Bank of Nigeria’s governor Sanusi Lamido expressed similar misgivings about Mr Buhari’s insatiable thirst for debt.
The former Kano emir berated Mr Buhari for condoning corruption, alleging that an individual who had never worked bought a private jet.
“In the last eight years, only sycophancy succeeded. The sycophants bought dollars at N400 and sold N540. An inexperienced boy who had never worked anywhere owns a private jet,” Mr Sanusi said.
Mr Sanusi also said that Nigeria led a false life in the last eight years under Mr Buhari’s regime.
He said the government borrowed from within and without, and about N30 trillion was borrowed from the central bank. He said all the revenue the country generated in the last few years could not service debt, and debt service exceeded 100 per cent.
Mr Sanusi said the government borrowed to service debts, and no country could grow this way.
“The last eight years, Nigeria led a false life. The government borrowed from within and without. About N30 trillion was borrowed from the central bank. All the revenue the country generated in the last few years couldn’t service debt. Debt service exceeded 100 per cent. The government borrowed to service debts. No country can grow this way,” Mr Sanusi explained.
In June, Mr Tinubu ordered the CBN to float the naira, allowing banks to determine exchange rates to the dollar and other foreign currencies, ending years of dual exchange rates in the country.
However, this move has not improved the value of the naira or increased forex availability in the market.
