Ripples at the presidency as Soludo, Sanusi bomb Buhari on economy

Two of Nigeria’s foremost economists and hitherto supporters of the administration, Professor Charles Soludo and His Eminence, Mohammed Sanusi, the Emire of Kano have taken swipes at President Muhammadu Buhari over his poor handling of the economy.

In their various speeches earlier in the week, the two former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governors decried the country’s rapidly declining economy under the present administration and advised the President to change or risk ending up in failure.

Speaking in Kaduna State on Thursday at the Progressive Governors Forum’s 4th Progressive Governance Lecture series with the theme: “Building the Economy of States, Challenges of Developing Inclusively-Sustainable Growth,” Soludo who served as CBN governor under Olusegun Obasanjo observed that the country was facing unprecedented and tremendous political and economical challenges with global and local dynamics.

He warned that if the country was not de-strangulated from the hold of the Federal Government to allow states exercise a measure of control over their resources, things will get worse.

“Inclusive and sustainable growth cannot be achieved without conscious efforts to deconstruct the dynasties of poverty and maximise states and Nigeria’s comparative and competitive advantage,” he said.

“Nigeria is not secured and can be made politically sustainable through the de-strangulation of the hold of the Federal Government over states.

“I, therefore, recommend the restructuring of the economy from consumption-driven to production-based and consistency in micro-economic policies.

“Encouraging fiscal federalism in ways that allow states to have greater control of their resources, evolution of a master plan for mass export-oriented industrialisation that answers the economic questions and realities of today. He called on

“APC states to develop a peer review mechanism to track, measure and share knowledge, which will distinguish APC states from non-APC states.”