By Bode Olagoke Abuja
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John OdigieOyegun, has said that Nigerians ought to commend the APC-led federal government for doing everything humanly possible to sustain the economy from total , instead of barrage of condemnations all over. Oyegun said contrary to the impressions in many quarters that the ruling party had no economic blueprint or lacks vibrant competent economic managers, the APC-led government did well to sustain the economy from complete collapse. Speaking with newsmen in Abuja yesterday during the second anniversary of the party in power, the Benin chief regretted that his party did not underestimate the severity of the economic situation facing the country before it came to power in 2015, adding that the former ruling party (PDP) should bury their heads in shame for battering the economy.
He said: “No, we didn’t under rate it neither did you nor anyone else unless those with the gift of prophesy. None could have known what was coming; if I ask you to describe the situation in 2015, I am sure you won’t have added that the crude oil market was going to collapse. Did you foresee that? “We knew we were going to take over a batter economy, but we were glad that oil was still coming at 2.5 million barrels a day, we were glad that prices were still hovering around a $100/b occasionally. “During the years of PDP, it was going between $100 to $120 a barrel and we took over a totally ravaged economy and we were prepared for that because we also thought since we didn’t have the gift of prophesy that Nigeria will continue to be blessed with oil resources, 2.5 million barrels sometime three million at $80 a barrel, sometimes 100 dollars a barrel, we were ready to get the nation moving quick. “When we took over, as if that wasn’t enough with a batter economy, the very next week or two, crude market collapsed at a stage that the price of production of a barrel and the price we were getting from the world market was almost the same; about thirty something dollars a barrel. “
And we are still here today, that is the reality and it has nothing to do with incompetence. We had no revenues, we had no foreign exchange, and we were an economy that exists to function. When President Buhari managed and painfully, I know the pain we went through to allow the price of petrol to go up. “We had to bring in the Treasury Single Account, had to make sure every kobo was accounted for, had to go abroad and the press started telling everyone that he lives in an aircraft from one capital to another to draw up resources to keep the nation afl oat. “Th en came the recession and in a situation like that was inevitable, we had to spend to get out of recession; we had no savings. Honestly, if you people want to do this country a favour you should tell anybody who was a main person in PDP that they ought to hang their heads in shame and you should pray that we never have a government again like what the PDP did to this countr
