Abubakar Yusuf, former senator representing Taraba central, says President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies are not delivering the expected results.
Yusuf, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain who
served in the senate from 2015 to 2023, spoke on Politics Today, a Channels
Television programme, on Thursday.
Responding to a question on whether “Tinubunomics” is
working, Yusuf said, “for me, it’s not working. I’m a member of the APC. I
would be the last person to hide the facts”.
Yusuf said although the administration may be doing its best
within its policy framework, the template itself is unsuitable for Nigeria’s
current realities.
“Within the policy framework, yes, they are doing their
best, but it is not the framework that is suitable for Nigeria at the point in
time that President Asiwaju came into power,” he said.
He criticised the immediate removal of fuel subsidy on the
day Tinubu was sworn in, saying the decision lacked adequate planning and
consultation.
“I am one of those who say President Asiwaju ought to have
waited… not on the day he was sworn in to say ‘subsidy is gone’. On what
basis?” he asked.
“What they are saying is subsidy is corruption and what have
you. Sit down with your cabinet, sit down with your ministers, sit down with
your advisors.”
Yusuf also faulted what he described as the absence of a
comprehensive plan before major fiscal decisions are taken.
“One of the basic problems is that before you budget, you
should have a plan,” he said.
“The envelope system we’ve been operating has been you
budget before you plan, so that has been a major issue.”
He argued that allocating budgetary envelopes without
aligning them to development plans undermines implementation.
“If you give me an envelope which is contrary to my plan,
you know whether it is plus or minus, then you know there’s no way I’m going to
implement my plan, and therefore it is bound to fail,” he said.
On whether the envelope budgeting system should be scrapped,
Yusuf said: “I agree, yes, I have always said it, even when I was in the
senate, I think we should jettison the envelope system.
“It is not good for us, it’s not going to work well for us.”
He said the federal government has consistently failed to
meet capital budget targets due to poor releases.
“We could not meet 60 percent of our capital budget in all these years, no releases,” he said.
“It’s not working, it has not really worked.”
Yusuf also blamed weak fund releases and deficit financing
for poor budget performance.
“When you make a budget, and you do not have a practical or
adequate way of releasing money for the projects, because the release too has
been a major, major problem, if you make a budget and the release is very, very
poor, there is no way the budget will be executed,” he said.
“Our budget ought to have been a surplus budget, but all our
budget has always been deficit financing budgets.”
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