The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bashiru Ajibola, on Tuesday said the economic reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have been yielding positive results.
Bashiru said food inflation was gradually reducing while the removal of fuel subsidy and floatation of the naira had provided resources for the development of infrastructure.
Upon assumption of office in May 2023, President Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy, a decision that did not go down well with many Nigerians as it led to the increase in the pump price of petrol and the cost of living.
However, the APC national secretary said, “In terms of performance, the economic reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have been yielding positive results. Food inflation that was very high at the inception of this administration, is gradually coming down and this is a verifiable fact.
“You can also see that international rating organisations are giving better ratings to the country. You can also see international financial organisations seeking to set u merchant banking in Nigeria. These are products o the visionary reformist activity of the President and the Federal.
“A lot of resources have now been freed for infrastructure development of our country by the removal of fuel subsidy and floatation of the naira.”
On the rising cost of living, Bashiru said, “Go to the market and do an empirical survey and make a distinction between what was happening one, two years ago in terms of the cost of food items and what is happening today.
“I have read a lot of analyses and research done by independent bodies, including credible news organisations saying that the cost of food items has come down in the past few months in Nigeria. That is salutary towards the efforts that are being made by our government in terms of addressing the problem of food security in Nigeria,” he said.
On the state of power supply in the country, he said the current administration inherited a system that was largely based on patronage rather than on merit, in terms of distribution and the transmission system and that the government was making an effort to address the age-long infrastructure deficit in the energy sector.
“So, to say that those efforts have not yielded the result up to the level that aspired to be would not mean that these efforts have not also been having some success in that regard. Of recent, the transmission company has even been unbundled in order to address the problem of inefficiency and that there could be adequate focus in ensuring adequate electricity supply for the Nigerian people,” the senator added.
Reacting to the outcry by the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, on Monday over the increase of his electricity bill from N2.7m in March to N29m in April by the utility company supplying electricity to his home, Ajibola said, “As to the tale by the deputy governor of Lagos State, I don’t know the level of gadgets he has in his house.
“I wouldn’t know the size of his house and I wouldn’t know the energy requirement that would occasion that huge amount of money billed upon him and the basis of that bill.
“I think that question will rightly be addressed, but it would not be correct to say that a humongous amount will apply to ordinary Nigerians who just run their lifestyle based on watching television, using electricity and possibly when there is heat, using air conditioners.”
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