Despite the challenges posed by the current economic hardships, the APC Professionals Forum, a think-tank stakeholders group within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), stated on Friday, March 1, that the administration led by President Bola Tinubu remains on course.
The forum urged Nigerians to see the current situation as short-term pains for long-term gains.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on its assessment of the nine-month-old federal government APC-led administration, the chairman, Board of Trustees of the forum and former governor of Bauchi state, Isa Yuguda admitted that the Tinubu administration had little choice about the courageous economic reforms it introduced to tackle the lingering challenges.
Assessing the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies, the unification of all foreign exchange rate windows, intervention programmes in the agricultural sector to boost food production and the implementation of the Oronsaye report which seeks to rationalise government agencies and parastatal, the forum maintained that the country is on track.
Commending the bold step taken by the president to end the fuel subsidy regime and unify the foreign exchange rates, the group, however, admitted the consequences of the initiatives on the price of foodstuff and the general cost of living of the people.
According to Yuguda, “On the unification of the exchange rates, it’s important we highlight the commendable efforts by the Minister of Finance (and Coordinating Minister of the Economy) and the CBN Governor to arrest the freefall of Naira and plug the loopholes saboteurs used in undermining our currency and the economy.
“However, we must be wary of the Bretton Wood institutions who operates outside of Nigeria and may not appreciate the challenges of our economy. The solutions prescribed for American institutions may not work in our clime.
We are also aware that the decision to discontinue fuel subsidy has since June 2023 led to a quantum increase in monthly allocations from the federation account to the sub-nationals with States and Local Governments getting almost 70% more than what they were receiving before the end of fuel subsidy.”
Lamenting that only a handful of states have introduced meaningful measures to cushion the effect of the removal of subsidies, the group advised state governments to channel a large portion of their increased federal allocations to food production and transportation and other intervention purposes to ameliorate the conditions of the people in their respective states.
The forum also urged all state governors to toe the path of the federal government in bringing succour to the people given the increase in monthly allocation occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidies.
On food security, the forum acknowledged efforts to boost food production through interventions such as the N200bn intervention to cultivate 250,000 hectares of land following the declaration of a state of emergency.
The group however want state governors in whose domains the lands are to invest more in agriculture even as they work with the federal government to enhance the capacity of farmers and forest rangers to protect farmlands.
On foreign policy and ECOWAS lifting of economic sanctions on Niger, Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, the forum observed: “The president has done a great job in lobbying his brother’s Presidents to lift the sanctions. We also acknowledged that political and other targeted sanctions are still in force and look forward to Nigeria leading the charge to get the military leadership in those countries especially Niger to provide acceptable transition time table.”
The forum noted: “It is just nine months in the four-year tenure of the President and from our assessment at APC Professionals Forum, the Tinubu administration is on trac
