Presidency attributes high inflation to COVID-19, faults The Guardian report

The Presidency, yesterday, responded to The Guardian’s report, ‘Buhari leaves inflation at highest in 17-year’.

The report said the headline inflation rate has climbed from a single-digit point it was when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015 to 22.22 per cent, the highest in 17 years.

A statement released by the President’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, accused The Guardian of twisting facts and mischief.

“These days, The Guardian newspaper is at its best when it comes to twisting politically-sensitive facts to suit its preconceived notions.

“In one of its highest fallacies, the paper this morning is tieing the rise of inflation to its 17-year high to the person of the President, Muhammadu Buhari who leaves office in exactly two weeks from this day,” the statement said.

Shehu said the stubbornly high inflation “is a worldwide problem and no nation is immune to it since the global economic downturn triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic”.

He listed France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Turkey and Ghana as some of the economies currently bugged down with high inflation.

“While Nigeria’s reported inflation rate of 22 per cent is undoubtedly high and worrisome, it would be incorrect to suggest that the Buhari administration is not making efforts to address the volatile global cost of living crisis. President Buhari has consistently prioritised efforts to control inflation and continues to do so,” he stressed.

Whereas COVID-19, indeed triggered runaway inflation, and the war in East Europe turbocharged it, prices are scaling down globally. But Nigeria’s inflation continues to trend upward.