Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has said the economic reforms embarked upon by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, have rescued the country’s economy from total collapse.
Soludo stated this while speaking at The Platform, a Democracy Day event organised by popular pastor of The Covenant Nation in Lagos, Pastor Poju Oyemade.
Soludo said, “I’m not shy to say this: the audacious structural reforms embarked upon by the current administration of President Bola Tinubu have rescued the economy from the tipping point.”
“If we didn’t do the kind of subsidy removal and deal with the exchange rate issues, we would have reached a point where the economy was just standing still.
“The removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of multiple foreign exchange windows were necessary steps that allowed the economy to breathe again.
“We couldn’t move any further. We needed fundamental rejigging for it to begin to breathe again — and thank God, at least, we are here,” Soludo said.
Soludo also praised the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for endorsing Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying their assessment of Nigeria’s current reform path was largely right.
He said: “But let’s be clear: the audacious structural reforms embarked upon by the current administration of HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR have rescued the economy from the tipping point.
“The endorsements by the World Bank, IMF, London Financial Times, rating agencies—Fitch, Moody’s, etc—are well deserved. Of course, many people know that I made a living criticising the World Bank and the IMF.
“As Governor of Anambra, I have even rejected a World Bank loan because of the terms. But on the matter of the trajectory of the current economic reforms, the World Bank etc are largely right.”
Speaking on his job as governor of Anambra State, he said: “I applied for my current job because I believe that I can join millions of Nigerians in the search for solutions. Yes, solutions—not lamentations!
“I see the Nigerian cup as half full, and not half empty. I carry my own Nigerianness on my head and my dress. To keep my optimism going, I try a lot of the time to focus more on what is right with or working in, Nigeria. Yes, we still have a very long way to go. But we must appreciate how far we have come.”
