We Are in Trouble, Huge Financial Trouble; Obaseki tells Nigeria

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki

The Governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki shows displeasure in the country’s situation, saying the country is in serious financial trouble.

In a statement made at the state transition commitee stakeholders, the Governor was quoted to have said that Federal Government printed N60bn as part of federal allocation for March, that the three tiers of government does nothing to help the country’s economy other than sleep and wait for salaries every end of month.

Governor Obaseki also blasted the country for it’s over reliance on crude oil price which he described according to Punchng as a mirage and no longer sustainable, and the country’s borrowing habit with no clear means of repayment.

The cable quotes him saying, “Nigeria has changed. The economy of Nigeria is not the same again whether we like it or not. Since the civil war, we have been managing, saying money is not our problem as long as we are pumping crude oil every day. So, we have run a very strange economy and strange presidential system where the local, state and federal government, at the end of the month, go and earn salaries. We are the only country in the world that does that.

“Everywhere else, the government relies on the people to produce taxes and that is what they use to run the local government, state and the federation. But with the way we run Nigeria, the country can go to sleep. At the end of the month, we just go to Abuja, collect money and we come back to spend. We are in trouble, huge financial trouble.

“The major oil companies who are the ones producing are no longer investing much in oil. Shell is pulling out of Nigeria and Chevron is now one of the world’s largest investors in alternative fuel, so in another year or so, where will we find this money that we go to share in Abuja?”

He added that while they will go to Abuja this April to share another money, the total borrowing will be within N15trn to N16trn.

Wisdom Peter