National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Chief Odigie John
Oyegun has said his party was unaware of how bad things were in Nigeria
during the campaign.
Speaking at an event to mark his birthday, Oyegun said the steps so far
taken by President Mohammadu Buhari will ensure this is the last time
Nigeria faces economic hardship.
He said, “It has been tough times for the nation. When we were campaigning
– it is necessary to continue to hammer on this point – we were not in
government; we knew things were very bad but we did not know they were as
bad as we eventually found them. And the revelations that come out every
day continue to buttress that fact.
“Secondly, and that is very important: nobody ever expected the prices of
crude to collapse in the way they have done. One can only repeat what Mr.
President (Muhammadu Buhari) said a few days ago and that is, from being a
nation that could have an Excess Crude Account, today, because of the
collapse of the prices of crude, a lot of the states in this country do
not even have enough resources to meet their very basic functions and
responsibilities to their citizens.”
Odigie-Oyegun further said with Buhari’s efforts and plans, this would be
the last economic crisis the country would face.
He said the President was laying “a solid foundation” for the country such
that all the mineral resources would be harnessed and the Nigeria of
tomorrow would be one that produces.
“We are going through hard times, temporarily, but it is quite clear that
the silver lining is there in the cloud because the President and your
party are determined that this nation will no longer be again a
mono-culture economy,” he added.