“REMOVE THE FRAUDULENT SUBSIDY”, SANUSI TOLD BUHARI
"Since
I have decided to come here, you have to accept what I have said here. And
please, if you do not want to hear the truth, never invite me.
hammad
Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano, has raised the alarm over unfavourable economic
policies leading the country to bankruptcy, urging President Muhammadu Buhari
to remove the fraudulent subsidy regime.
Sanusi,
who was former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, made the revelation on
Tuesday while speaking at the ongoing 3rd National Treasury Workshop organized
by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation holding in Coronation
Hall, Government House, Kano.
He
said, “The country is bankrupt and we are heading for bankruptcy. What happened
is that the federal government do pay petroleum subsidy, pay electricity tariff
subsidy, and if there is a rise in interest rates, Federal Government pays.
“What
is more life-threatening than the subsidy that we have to sacrifice education,
health sector and infrastructure for us to have cheap petroleum.
“If
truly President Buhari is fighting poverty, he should remove the risk on the
national financial sector and stop the subsidy regime which is fraudulent.”
"Since
I have decided to come here, you have to accept what I have said here. And
please, if you do not want to hear the truth, never invite me.
“So
let us talk about the state of public finance in Nigeria. We have a number of
very difficult decisions that we must make, and we should face the reality. His
Excellency, the President said in his inaugural speech that his government
would like to lift 100 million people out of poverty, it was a speech that was
well received not only in this country but the world-wide.
“The
number of people living with poverty in Nigeria are frightening. By 2050, 85
percent of those living in extreme poverty in the world will be from the
African continent. And Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo will take
the lead.
“Two
days ago, I read that the percentage of the government's revenue going to debt
services has risen to 70 percent.
“And
then, you continue subsidizing petroleum products; and spending N1.5 trillion
per annum on petroleum subsidy. And then we are subsidizing electricity tariff.
And maybe, you have to borrow from the capital market or the Central Bank of
Nigeria to service the shortfall in the electricity tariff, where is the money
to pay salaries, where is the money for education, where other government
projects."
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