The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) says within the last year, the country has attracted over $20 billion into the economy, aside from recording an all-time high of N6.52 trillion.
APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Felix Morka, in a statement on Tuesday remarked that the inroads recorded under the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is in sharp contrast to the gloomy picture of the economy painted by the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 poll, Mr. Peter Obi.
APC described Obi’s latest statement on the country’s economic situation as an admixture of half-truths, blatant distortions and misinformation calculated to mobilise outrage against the APC of President Tinubu.
APC noted that the trade surplus in the first quarter of 2024 marked a positive shift from a long history of trade deficits under the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration.
APC further stated that despite clearing the backlog of the foreign exchange debts owed foreign airlines and other economic actors by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation’s foreign reserves have continued to expand, hitting upwards of $34 billion, the highest in recent times.
APC maintained that President Tinubu remains focused and committed to building lasting blocks of economic prosperity for Nigeria.
“Capital inflow into the country increased by 66.27 percent this year alone,” the party noted.
“Notable financial experts and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report that for the first time in our economic history, the All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed the 100,000 benchmark this year, making the Nigerian Stock Exchange currently about the most profitable capital market in the world with a return on investment (RoI) as high as 22.90 percent.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that the nation’s economy will have a 3.1 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2024, one of the highest projections for any African country.
“Initiatives such as the Credit Corps, Students Loan, the newly approved minimum wage, the construction of 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, and many more are tailor-made by President Tinubu to combat poverty and expand economic opportunities for Nigerians.”
APC described Obi as a loquacious and disruptive backseat driver who has assigned himself the ignoble role of an embittered loser and spoiler.
The party noted that the economic challenges and hardship in the country are a stark reality in most countries of the world today, both developed and developing.
It added: “It is an existential condition that must be tackled and transformed. This is an arduous task that requires collective patriotic collaboration.
“Mr. Obi must know that inflaming passion and mobilising outrage through false and manipulative narratives are not legitimate tools of opposition politics. Expecting President Tinubu to accomplish a total transformation of Nigeria in one year, a feat he failed miserably to accomplish in eight years as Governor of Anambra state, is the height of disgraceful hypocrisy.
“His warped conclusion that Nigeria’s economic crisis was caused by nine years of APC-led administration is a highly revisionist, dishonest, distorted, and deliberately misleading assessment of the country’s economic trajectory in the last decade.
“He opined, rather mischievously, that no efforts were being made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to tackle poverty and unemployment in the country.
“The facts tell a far more complex and different story. The country’s economic decline began under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with GDP growth plummeting from 7.98% in 2010 to 2.79% in 2015.
“And since 2015, the global oil price crash, geopolitical tensions, climate change, global COVID pandemic, and rising population have all taken a toll on Nigeria’s economy, which is almost entirely dependent on drastically reduced oil export earnings.
“The growth recorded during the PDP years was due entirely to the high price of crude oil and increased government spending that it supported.
“It is noteworthy that between 2007-2014, Nigeria earned $531.2 billion under the PDP, compared to $287.8 billion under APC between 2015-2022. This drastically reduced export earnings under the APC administration was even further stretched thin by the country’s population surge from 184 million in 2015 to 229 million in 2024.
“Despite the huge revenues available to it, successive PDP administrations neglected to address underlying structural challenges and distortions in the economy, leaving the country vulnerable to economic shocks and volatility.
“Had the PDP undertaken a sustained programme of economic reform as President Tinubu is currently engaged, Nigeria’s economic situation would be far better than it is today.
“But in his selfish political desperation, Obi will never acknowledge the complexity of the causation of our economic challenges but would rather attempt to scapegoat the APC administration for all of the country’s economic ills while turning a blind eye to the bold and thoughtful policy interventions of President Tinubu’s administration.
“The administration’s focused and determined efforts to tackle the country’s challenges through diversification, massive infrastructure development, social welfare, agricultural revolution, and sustained improvements in national security are certain to accelerate Nigeria’s resurgence, create jobs, and lift millions of our people out of poverty.”
