By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
PERHAPS following the blame-game tradition of its predecessor, the government of Nigeria, on Wednesday, disclosed that the policy of former President Muhammadu Buhari, which resulted in free printing of Naira for eight years without corresponding production, is one of the major errors responsible for the country’s current economic debacle.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made the revelation in Abuja while appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa.
Speaking of measures to revamp the economy among other issues, Edun said the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had done a lot, including efforts to stabilise the naira against the dollar and the implementation of a more transparent social welfare scheme for the citizenry.
According to him, free printing of the naira for eight years up to N22.7 trillion by the administration of former President Buhari without a corresponding improvement in productive activities was one of the major errors of the past.
“The inflation is due largely to eight years of printing the naira, which was not matched by production,” Edun reiterated.
Stonix News recalled that governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, had, during the latter days of the Buhari regime in 2021, divulged the reckless printing of naira to sustain the economy – a revelation that drew tirades from the then government officials, calling him a liar.
Particularly, governor of the then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had dismissed Obaseki’s claim as false.
However, Obaseki reiterated his position, asking the Nigerian government to end the then monetary rascality and stop playing the ostrich.
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