Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo on September 27, Tuesday, blamed former governors for the current economic recession.
He stated that ex-governors contributed to the economic challenges troubling the nation by opposing his government’s efforts to save for the rainy day when the price of oil was higher.
Obasanjo speaking during the 2016 World Pension Summit in Abuja cried out that many of the former state executives discouraged his genuine attempt to save a considerable part of the country’s resources when there was excess oil revenue.
He said:-
“I remember when I was in government and I told, particularly, the governors, ‘please let us save for the rainy days.’ They said no!
“There was no rain at that time, now that the rain has come; there is nothing we can fall back on to cushion us.”
Meanwhile, the former leader praised the secured nature of the pension scheme, adding that despite the many years of corruption in the Nigerian polity, the pension funds were not touched.
“One of the things that make me very happy in the pension scheme is that in the last five years, when almost everything goes, concerning public funds, pension funds remain sacrosanct. I believe that the pension funds are something we must preserve, no matter what we do,” Obasanjo added.
In August 2016, Nigeria has fallen into recession for the first time in more than two decades as growth in Africa’s top oil producer shortened for the second consecutive quarter.
The country’s economy contracted 2.1% in the three months to the end of June, though inflation hit an 11-year high of 17.1%, underlining the depth of the West African nation’s crisis.
The recession might not be unconnected from the attacks of the Niger Delta militants in oil rich region.