By NewsBits
The President of Nigeria Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has blamed the current hardship in the country on certain monetary policies and actions implemented by the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
Akpabio who was speaking on Sunday in a function in Abuja said Emefiele left multiple debts and economic mess for the current administration. According to the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, the government is presently deliberating, which allegations to prosecute Emefiele for, considering his numerous misconducts during his tenure as CBN governor.
He said: “The kind of debts and economic mess that we are in, a lot of people do not understand. President Obama said you cannot know Washington until you get to Washington, so by the time we went in to look at the economic situation of the country, it was terrible. So, you know the Former Governor of Central Bank, we don’t even know what to charge him with.
“The hunger in the land is because of the kind of policies and actions that they took. We are battling to make sure that Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed. We are battling to ensure that Nigerians can afford three square meals in a day.”
Nigeria is currently battling with a rising inflation rate of 29.90% and food inflation rate of 34.41% according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS). But insiders said this numbers are a far cry to the real situation in the country. The president who recently met with 36 governors to address the issue of economic hardship and insecurity said his administration will not resort to food importation as it promotes rent seeking and corruption.
Meanwhile, the president announced the release of 40,000 tonnes of grain to crash the prices of food items in the market.
“The first one is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been directed to release about 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, garri, and other commodities in their strategic reserve so that these items will be made available to Nigerians; 42,000 metric tons immediately,” he told reporters.
“The second one is that we have held meetings with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria. Those who are responsible for producing this rice and we have asked them to open up their stores.
“They’ve told us that they can guarantee about 60,000 metric tons of rice. They will make that available to Nigerians; to bring out to the market to make food available,” the president said.
