Babatunji wusu –
Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, Senator for Ondo South, has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare what he found in the treasury when he took office on May 29.
In a statement issued on Monday, the politician and businessman requested the President to reveal facts contained in the handover papers he got from former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ibrahim demanded that the President release the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to debt ratio, GDP-to-cash flow ratio, and other indices when he took office.
The member stated that, regardless of the president’s good intentions, a lack of communication will be a major obstacle.
“The policies of this government have good intentions, but you know the short-term effects on the economy, which is why the information minister needs to get those facts across to Nigerians,” he said.
“Legitimacy is important, and Asiwaju means well, but he needs to put some information out there.” After all, he received handover papers from previous President Buhari; why not share them and inform Nigerians of what he encountered on the ground?
“For example, what was the GDP to debt ratio, the GDP to cash flow ratio, and other indices so that Nigerians could be informed?” Then he says why he is implementing or not implementing certain measures today because of the impact it will have on the economy in light of what is happening on the ground. That, in my opinion, is how it should be. Otherwise, Nigerians will always see things differently.”
Furthermore, Ibrahim stated that borrowing is not the issue in Nigeria, but rather borrowing to invest in important sectors of the economy.
“Our debt service to GDP is 30%, and our cash flow to GDP is 1.3% of GDP, which is the worst in the world, which means that the cash available for Tinubu to spend is 1.3% of GDP, and we have capital projects,” he stated. He was responsible for appointing ministers as well as running the administration. So, what will be the country’s next step?
“We have the option of taxing more people to generate revenue because tax to GDP is 18%, but the country does not have a large buoyant population.” The second alternative is to print additional money, but doing so weakens the naira, thus borrowing is the next best choice.
“However, borrowing is not a bad thing, but we need to borrow and invest in infrastructure because the IMF has stated that the debt rate to global GDP is 135%, which means that the world has over-borrowed, and this is not unique to Nigeria.” As a result, we must borrow money and invest in key infrastructure.”
