“Economy Not Improving Yet” — Senators Challenge Minister’s Positive Outlook

Members of the Senate Committee on Finance, yesterday, disagreed with the submission of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, that the Nigerian economy is improving.

The exchange took place during the budget defence of the Ministry of Finance and related agencies’ 2025 budget at the National Assembly.

During his submission, Edun informed the committee that after about 18 to 20 months under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian economy was improving with results. He said the 2024 budget deficit as a percentage of GDP was falling, foreign reserves were up and at 3.5 percent per annum GDP growth, the economy was moving in the right direction.

“We just have to maintain that path… Inflation remains stubbornly high, and the Central Bank is doing its utmost to ensure it tames inflation so that living costs can come down. And in particular, the government is focused on increasing food production, so that food inflation, which is a major component, is ameliorated, and food is both affordable and available to Nigerians.

“Against the background of the fact that we now have market pricing of foreign exchange, market pricing of petroleum products, domestic refining of petroleum products producing raw materials, we look forward optimistically to the strong performance of the Nigerian economy in the year 2025. And we have very good reasons to be optimistic that we will achieve it.

“The budget that you have, the appropriation in 2024 was N8.1 billion. We only managed to spend 5.1 billion, although the story does not end there, you senators, along with your colleagues in the House of Representatives, have extended the capital budget for 2024, as amended, all the way to June 2025, so that will give us additional opportunity to implement additional investments from the Nigerian economy.”

Reacting, Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) said despite all the minister had said, what was clear is that the touted improvement was not resonating with the ordinary Nigerian on the street whose purchasing power keeps dwindling by the day.

He advised the executive to improve on its performance of 2024 as what it has been doing so far clearly isn’t working.

“Here we are, aware that in 2023, when your government came in, the exchange rate was N420, N450. And here we are talking about N1,700 and still counting. I know Mr. President, in his budget, made out a very ambitious plan of pegging it at N1500. Well and good, he himself admitted that it was ambitious but we party for the best. That’s where we are.

“Inflation is skyrocketing, our debt exposures are increasing and the average purchasing power of Nigerians out there in the streets, it can’t resonate with them when you say our economy is improving and foreign reserves are increasing. It doesn’t resonate. So, quite frankly, I would like you to use this opportunity to assure us what you have been doing, but most importantly, for this year 2025, this new year, what you intend to do differently because clearly, all that the government has been doing from 2023 to now has not worked.

“It is good to hear what you have done but we have not seen the practical results. You could have it in academic analysis and so on, what can you do to show that you will do differently to ensure that this is not just reflected in your records and analysis so that Nigerians out there feel it.”

Immediately after his comment, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), attempted to give soft-landing to the minister, saying, “first, let me clarify that we are in governance and governance is all of us so there is no political dichotomy when it comes to governance. So, we are all going to take responsibility for what is going on.

“I think, if I can summarise what he mentioned, is the issue of inflation, which you have spoken about and I would want the Hon. Minister to realistically look at it very well, let’s make a statement that Nigerians will actually believe what we are doing. We know what we are doing, and there is no better way to do it now than the way we are doing it. So, the comfort is for us to give Nigerians the language they will understand very well so that by the time they see the inflation coming down, they will believe that we have said it.”

But Dickson maintained his position, saying, “Mr. chairman, can I clarify it? Of course, with the little you know about my antecedents, I believe you know that I know that when we are discussing economic issues and so on, we are one government.

“But you see, the gentleman there is representing the Executive arm, that’s why we are seated this way. So, when I said your government, I know this is the Senate of the Federal Republic, but he is a spokesperson defending the policies of the Executive arm which I didn’t contribute to and which I don’t think you contributed to. Except maybe as a party man.”

Other lawmakers endorsed Dickson’s submission and called for more efforts from the government to reduce the financial burden Nigerians are carrying due to inflation. They also called for more investment in agriculture production and processing to boost food security.

Furthermore, they urged the minister to fund the capital component of the budget because most Nigerians are not government workers and depend on the capital component of the budget to make a living.

However, the minister, in his response, blamed the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for the sorry state of the economy, saying President Tinubu was reviving it. He insisted that the economy was moving and Nigerians would soon begin to feel the effect.

“Before President Tinubu took over. The country was fiscally, economically going downhill. Some people might use the word, finished and ill, to tell you why. Oil revenue, the mainstay, oil production was at two million barrels and going down. Insecurity stalked the land, agriculture production was down. How was the government getting by? It was living a false existence. When a payment needed to be made by the government, they simply printed the money. The Central Bank simply credited the government’s account.

“Of course, that was and is any day doomed to be a total crisis. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu saved the economy, he saved society. How did he save the economy? In his time, every single payment has been armed, and has been procured in the financial market on willing buyer, willing seller terms. Because they believe in his economic plan, the multilateral institutions, the repositories of the cheapest monies with 40 years to pay back, 10 moratorium, one percent interest. We approached them, they looked at our outlook and they believed in it.”