Tinubu Inherited Terrible Economic Situation From Previous Administration – Oshiomhole

Patrick OdeyAugust 15, 2023

2 2 minutes read

Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North Senatorial District, has said President Bola Tinubu inherited a terrible economic situation from the past administration.

Oshiomhole spoke to journalists after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.

The former governor of Edo state noted that President Tinubu had embarked on some vital reforms to boost the economy, such as abolishing the subsidy scam and bringing order to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He appealed to Nigerians to be patient and support the president’s vision.

Oshiomhole also expressed confidence that the Federal Government and organized labour would soon reach an agreement on the issues arising from the removal of fuel subsidy.

He said that President Tinubu was aware of the hardship faced by Nigerians due to the subsidy withdrawal and was ready to take immediate measures to cushion the effect.

He said, “This president recognizes that the effect of the withdrawal is already here, people are already going through some level of discomfort and therefore there has to be an immediate solution to it.

“Now that immediate solution is what we discussed and the fact that we are meeting on Tuesday again shows that clearly, we realize that this is not one of those things you want to buy time because it has a real negative impact, on particularly, the most vulnerable group.

“But we have a solution to it because you are going to make savings, so take from that savings or even if it is borrowing. So, whatever it is, you can leverage some revenue and improve wages to cushion the cost of living, I think it is legitimate, I think it is doable, it is not something that you want to spend two to three months negotiating.”

Oshiomhole was part of a meeting between the Federal Government and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Sunday. He said the meeting was productive and that the government would consider all the demands by the TUC and revert on Tuesday.

He said that if Nigeria could save about N7 trillion by ending subsidy, the Federal Government could use part of that money to increase wages “because those savings will go into the federation account which will be distributed among the three tiers of government and so every tier of government will have more money and should be able to meet the consequential increase in wages.”