PDP to APC: Your poor mgt of economy, cause of recession

.Accuses APC of lack of vision, incompetence

. Says, policies, statements by key government actors have not been business friendly

‘Great leaders take over countries either in recession or war and still succeed in turning them around

 .Urges governing party to stop blame game

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the current economic recession being witnessed in the country was not caused by the previous administration or leaders but by the poor management of Nigeria’s economy, lack of vision and incompetence of the present All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government.

The shortcomings of the APC-led government, the PDP maintained, drove Nigerians into this avoidable life threatening quagmire.

The opposition party, which said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, advised the APC-led Federal Government to look inward by inviting economic experts irrespective of their political leaning, to join hands with the administration at these trying times.

In the statement signed by Prince Dayo Adeyeye, spokesperson of the National Caretaker Committee, the PDP advised the APC to stop blaming the immediate past administration on its incompetence and poor handling of the economy, which it attributed as cause of the recession.

According to the statement, “This blame is misplaced because our elementary understanding of economics teaches us that the major cause of recession is inflation and poor handling of the economy given that the higher the rate of inflation, the more impoverished people become, industrial production and GDP decline resulting in massive job losses”.

The PDP stated that the world history is full of many examples where genuine leaders take over countries whose economies are stagnated and move them to positive growth.

It said: “They (APC) should be reminded that great leaders take over countries either in recession or war and still succeed in turning them around; quite unlike the prevailing situation where a ruling party plunges the economy into an avoidable recession, only to turn round and begin to whine helplessly like a baby”.

While citing the example of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who ruled the United States of America (USA) during the time of world economic depression and war, the PDP noted that his ambitious programme, “The Great Deal”, offered relief to the Americans and helped the economy to recover.

The PDP said: “In his first hundred days in office in 1933, Roosevelt was reputed to have renewed the American spirit and optimism by immediately addressing the effects of the depression.

“Through the Great Deal, he introduced a variety of programmes targeted at getting Americans back to work, provide relief for the vulnerable, get industry and agriculture back on their feet, and engender accelerated recovery and economic growth.

“Or, how about the recent change of government in the United Kingdom where the new Prime Minister, Theresa May formed her cabinet within hours to ensure that the doubts arising from the uncertainty of Brexit vote do not get the better of her citizens?‎”

The party challenged the APC to tell Nigerians the character of the economic team in place that has been managing the nation’s economy since May 29, 2015.

“This ‘economic management policy’ of unhealthy propaganda and blaming the previous administration ceaselessly, will not take us anywhere.

“Will (the APC) continue to blame Jonathan and the PDP till 2019 and use Jonathan for the 2019 campaign instead of showing their scorecard?

“The good thing is that Nigerians who were being hoodwinked at first, are now seeing through the deception of this unending blame game.

“It is on record that one APC governor, after his inauguration for his second tenure, publicly announced that he inherited an empty treasury. He was quickly reminded that he couldn’t have inherited empty treasury from himself.

“This unfortunately, is the face of the comedy and farce that now characterise governors and governance in this country,” the statement added.

The party said it associates itself with the President of the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Larry Ettah “that the lack of clarity about the economic agenda of the current government contributed to the current economic stagnation and recession.” ‎

The opposition party recalled that when economic experts were advising the Federal Government to woo investors, some APC leaders were busy de-marketing Nigeria all over the world. ‎

According to the statement, “It is no secret that the policies and statements made by key government actors have not been business friendly and Nigerians and foreign business men took their hard currencies out of the country”.

It revealed that the bold efforts by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 to deregulate the sale of hydrocarbons, and encourage savings in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and set up the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), were‎ frustrated by APC chieftains who were then in opposition.

According to the statement, “In particular, despite interfering global downturn, the overall real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate stood at an average of five per cent, a growth that was largely driven by the non-oil sector in line with the success of the diversification effort of the administration.

“There is no doubt that there was obvious improvement in inflation pressure which stood at a single digit and provided the stability and guarantees needed for the economy to remain stable.

“It actually borders on ignorance to claim that no cost cutting measures were introduced when the Jonathan administration, in one sector was able to reduce its food import bill from well over N1trillion to N684.7 billion as at December 2013 and subsequently cut it further down with improvements in local food production.

“Where was the (APC) when Jonathan’s administration embarked on comprehensive reforms in different sectors towards infrastructure renewal, promotion of sustainable development and the growth of the nation’s economy to become the largest in Africa?‎,” PDP said.

The party said it was because of the milestones recorded in the local production of rice and other staple food that ensured robust local supply and remarkable progression which limited the demand for scarce foreign exchange needed for importation. ‎

It added that the agricultural revolution endeared the administration to farmers openly expressed their support and gains from these initiatives.

The statement added, when the seventh Senate approved $52 benchmark for the administration’s last budget at a time oil was selling for about $60 and crashing further, the government, under the leadership of the Finance Ministry, developed a fiscal template with definite responses designed to track and tackle varying challenges in the volatility regime.

“The recent visit of the Facebook Founder, Mark Zukerberg to the Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) in Yaba, Lagos State, wouldn’t have happened if Jonathan did not have the vision to set up the two ICT incubation centres in Lagos and Calabar.

“The former President built the Centres in support of youth entrepreneurship, just as he did with other successful youth-focused programmes like the Youth Enterprise with Innovation (YOUWIN) and the Nagropreneur Initiative that turned agriculture into an attractive industry for youths.

“These were possible because of the performance contract model Jonathan developed for his ministers where key performance indicators (KPI) were jointly agreed and signed against which each minister’s measurable effectiveness was benchmarked.

“In view of the above submissions, it is clear that the current economic recession in the country was not caused by previous PDP’s administration or leaders but due to the poor management of Nigeria’s economy, lack of vision and incompetence of the present APC’s led Federal Government that drove Nigerians into this avoidable life threatening quagmire,” PDP concluded.