The immediate past Minister/Deputy Chairman, National
Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, yesterday, faulted claims by
President Muhammadu Buhari that his administration met an empty treasury.
Suleiman said the former administration as at May 29 left
behind $30 billion, adding that the sum would have been higher had the
governors not insisted on sharing the fund.
He warned that the former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,
must not be criminalized and painted a plunderer and looter of the nation’s
treasury before the generality of Nigerians.
The clarification was in response to the President’s
statement during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, where he was
quoted to have said that his government met “virtually an empty treasury.”
President Buhari reportedly said that it was a disgrace that
Nigeria cannot pay salaries of its workforce.
Expressing his dismay over the President’s statement,
Sulaiman in a statement in Abuja described the report as “unscientific and unfair,”
stressing that the immediate past administration “left behind close to
$30 billion.”
He said: “Government can’t tell us that there is no Excess
Crude Account (ECA), Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) or are we saying the Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIR) and related agencies had not in the last one month
been generating revenue?
“Until they are able to prove they had no receipts from
these government agencies in the last one month before Nigerians can now buy
into Mr. President’s claims of an empty treasury.”
Africa’s largest economy
He recalled that under the Jonathan’s administration,
Nigeria was rated the largest economy in Africa and 26th largest in the world,
querying how come such a government would leave behind an empty treasury.
He said: “Money made by government is meant to be spent, and
this the immediate past administration did responsibly. Every government
operates on deficit even in the so-called western world, including the US which
today remains one of the largest debtor nations in the world”.
“Is it not on record that President Obama inherited $3
trillion debt, a collapsed banking sector and mortgage industry, yet he never
raised any alarm. None of these has happened in Nigeria under Jonathan.
“Under Jonathan, Nigeria became the largest Africa economy
and 26th in the world amidst deadly security challenges and dwindling
international prices of oil. In spite of all these, the Federal Government
never owed salary.
“Upon inception of Jonathan’s administration, it is on
record that the price of oil at the global stage was over $100 per barrel and
at the close of the administration, it dropped to $46. Yet, there wasn’t
collapse of government and federal civil servants were paid as at when due.
“It will be misleading, therefore, for our respected
President Muhammadu Buhari and indeed the ruling APC to claim to have met an
empty treasury.”
He further reminded the new government that “aspiration to
governance is a call to meeting and confronting challenges headlong. So, we
urge the APC-led government to hit the ground running as promised Nigerians by
confronting the challenges.
“We are not in doubt of the capability of Mr. President to
do it. He should, therefore, get to business, put in place structures and
personnel to redeem the pledges made to Nigerians.”
