9 months ago
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The National Director of Publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bala Ibrahim, has tackled the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, for blaming former President Muhammadu Buhari for the current economic challenges and hardship Nigerians are facing.
Naija News reports that Mutfwang, during Tuesday’s swearing-in of his special advisers and heads of agencies at the Government House in Jos, claimed Buhari’s administration mortgaged the future of the economy.
However, in an interview with PUNCH, Bala Ibrahim frowned at Mutfwang’s utterances, saying it was obvious the Plateau governor was merely playing to the gallery and displaying his ignorance of macro and micro-economies.
While exonerating Buhari from the current economic travails, Ibrahim stated that those who know Buhari, even as a military leader and former petroleum minister, understand that he can’t do anything to jeopardise the economy.
He said, “I will say the governor is probably displaying his ignorance of macro and micro-economies. When you talk about mortgaging the country or selling oil upfront for the future, I think he needs to go and learn how oil is marketed at the Rotterdam market. There are countries that produce oil, sell for upward of 10 years and payments made upfront. It is normal in the oil business. It didn’t start with Buhari even such a thing happened during his administration.
“For his (Mutfwang) information, Buhari is very versed and experienced when it comes to oil marketing and economy, having been minister of petroleum during the military regime. He has also been one head of state that built two refineries during his time. So he is very conversant with the economics of oil, and anyone who knows Buhari will tell you he won’t do anything that will shortchange the country or put the future of Nigeria in jeopardy.
Speaking on the printing of N22.7 trillion during Buhari’s administration, Ibrahim added, “I believe that is being investigated by the National Assembly and I don’t want us to start pre-empting the outcome. The governor is just playing to the gallery. It is not something new but a normal statement expected from the mouth of the opposition. But in playing opposition, I always like people to play constructive and not destructive criticism.”
