Abuja TimeThe Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has declined to engage a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, in a debate over the economy, saying that he had more important economic issues to attend to.
Aganga, who spoke in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday, instead referred Soludo to investors, “who lost so much money in the capital market.”
He said, “I’m not interested in responding. I made a first comment and he has responded. I’m not a politician; I’m a technocrat and I have work to do. Let Nigerians who have lost so much money in the capital market judge. Let taxpayers, whose over N2tn is being used to fund the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to bail out the banks judge.”
The minister said his main assignment was to see the economy improve significantly, noting that the Federal Government was committed to seeing things work.
Aganga had, on a Nigerian Television Authority’s programme (Finance and Economy), taken on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and his advisers on what he described as misrepresentation of facts about the Nigerian economy.
He had said, “They are the same people who told us that our banks are safe, there are no non-performing loans, What happened when the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi came on board? The can was opened, everything was completely rotten. These are the people who ran the economy down and they are the same people advising the man.”
He added that Atiku’s advisers ought to be serving a jail term for mismanaging the economy during their tenure.
However, Soludo, who reacted in strong words to Aganga’s position, floored the minister’s administration, saying his team lacked the capability to run the ministry.
He said, “You assumed office when oil price was about $75 per barrel and external reserves stood at about $42bn. Within nine months, you have earned a world record as the head of an Economic Management Team that lost about $10bn in foreign reserves at a time of unprecedented export boom, with oil price now over $90 per barrel.
“While the EMT I belonged to got Nigeria debt relief, you will get the world record as the finance minister who had the fastest rate of debt accumulation in Nigeria’s history, even at a time of oil boom, and presented a budget where not a kobo of oil revenue is spent on infrastructure like power etc, but 114 per cent of revenue (is) spent on consumption.”
He added, “My candid advice to you, Hon. Minister, is for you and your colleagues at the EMT to note that you need serious help on the economy. It is our collective destiny that is at stake. Threatening me with imprisonment or even imprisoning me will not solve the problem sir.
“But if you are convinced that you know what you are talking about in respect of the economy, and/or that you are sure of what you said about my regime, I challenge you to a two- to three-hour televised national debate on these issues.
Aganga, who spoke in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday, instead referred Soludo to investors, “who lost so much money in the capital market.”
He said, “I’m not interested in responding. I made a first comment and he has responded. I’m not a politician; I’m a technocrat and I have work to do. Let Nigerians who have lost so much money in the capital market judge. Let taxpayers, whose over N2tn is being used to fund the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to bail out the banks judge.”
The minister said his main assignment was to see the economy improve significantly, noting that the Federal Government was committed to seeing things work.
Aganga had, on a Nigerian Television Authority’s programme (Finance and Economy), taken on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and his advisers on what he described as misrepresentation of facts about the Nigerian economy.
He had said, “They are the same people who told us that our banks are safe, there are no non-performing loans, What happened when the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi came on board? The can was opened, everything was completely rotten. These are the people who ran the economy down and they are the same people advising the man.”
He added that Atiku’s advisers ought to be serving a jail term for mismanaging the economy during their tenure.
However, Soludo, who reacted in strong words to Aganga’s position, floored the minister’s administration, saying his team lacked the capability to run the ministry.
He said, “You assumed office when oil price was about $75 per barrel and external reserves stood at about $42bn. Within nine months, you have earned a world record as the head of an Economic Management Team that lost about $10bn in foreign reserves at a time of unprecedented export boom, with oil price now over $90 per barrel.
“While the EMT I belonged to got Nigeria debt relief, you will get the world record as the finance minister who had the fastest rate of debt accumulation in Nigeria’s history, even at a time of oil boom, and presented a budget where not a kobo of oil revenue is spent on infrastructure like power etc, but 114 per cent of revenue (is) spent on consumption.”
He added, “My candid advice to you, Hon. Minister, is for you and your colleagues at the EMT to note that you need serious help on the economy. It is our collective destiny that is at stake. Threatening me with imprisonment or even imprisoning me will not solve the problem sir.
“But if you are convinced that you know what you are talking about in respect of the economy, and/or that you are sure of what you said about my regime, I challenge you to a two- to three-hour televised national debate on these issues.
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