Anambra Governor, Soludo Says Tinubu Inherited ‘Dead Economy’

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has said that President Bola Tinubu inherited a “dead economy” from his predecessor, despite he (Soludo) being a member of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council.

Governor Soludo, who said this while featuring in Channels Television’s Politics Today Programme, said that the Nigerian economy under former President Buhari was like a dead horse which though dead but was still standing and people did not know it was dead.

Recall that after Buhari replaced his Economic Management Team with an Economic Advisory Council in September 2019, Governor Soludo who is a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) chief, amongst others, was named as a member of the council.

Other members of the Council were Dr. Mohammed Sagagi (Vice-Chairman); Prof Ode Ojowu; Dr Shehu Yahaya; Dr Iyabo Masha; Mr Bismark Rewane and  Dr Mohammed Adaya Salisu (Secretary).

However, speaking during the programme on Thursday night, Governor Soludo blamed Nigeria’s worsening economy on past violations of the CBN’s establishment law, which according to him, bars deficit financing above five percent of prior year revenues.

Soludo accused the past management of the CBN of illegally granting trillions in unbacked financing despite legal restrictions, contributing to current challenges the country is facing.

The Governor said, “We explicitly put into the law that you can’t grant the Federal Government more than five per cent of the previous year’s actual revenue. And that so granted must be retired by the end of the year in which it was granted.

“And when the Federal Government fails to retire, the Central Bank is forbidden by that law from further advancing ways and means. That was the law, 2007 Act of the Central Bank.

“But we sat all of us Nigerians watching the CBN illegally and brazenly violating that Act year on year and kept on printing money. That is when advance money is backed by nothing; you just credit the Federal Government with trillions N 4 trillion, N10 trillion, N15 trillion and we kept going.

“I did say it before, that this particular government inherited a dead economy, from a micro economic point of view.

“This government inherited a dead economy standing almost like a dead horse but was still standing. But people didn’t know it was dead.

“You cannot pour a drum of water on a rock and expect that the rock will not be wet. There is humongous challenges and it is important that Nigerians understand this and that it is not a tea party.

“When I spoke with the minister of finance and some of them I spoke with, I told them, you have my congratulations and also my commensurations because I know what faces them. They need our support in whatever way we can.”