The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu saved Nigeria from an economic recession in 2023. Onanuga made this statement in response to criticisms levelled against Tinubu’s economic reforms by Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 2023 election.
Atiku had criticized Tinubu’s economic policies for causing pain and despair among Nigerians. However, Onanuga explained that Tinubu’s recent decision to remove fuel subsidy and float the Naira were necessary steps in the right direction. He stated that the 2023 budget allocated 97% of revenue to debt servicing, which left little for capital expenditure, thereby hindering economic growth and job creation.
According to Onanuga, faced with this grim economic reality, President Tinubu had to make a difficult choice of balancing the political and economic costs of reforms against the risks of economic recession. His government chose the former and managed to keep the economy afloat and set it back on the path of growth and prosperity.