The All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied responsibility for the country’s economic recession, saying the crisis started long before it took over government.
It National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdulahi, absolved the party of blame in an exclusive interview with NEXT EDITION in Abuja on Friday.
Mr. Abdulahi also denied claims the economic situation that has exacerbated the level of hunger, poverty and frustration, was responsible for why many people were committing suicide.
The APC spokesperson did not, however, blame the past administration in the country for the dwindling fortunes of the nation’s economy, unlike when the Buhari government came into power.
“I don’t see anybody saying APC caused the recession in the country unless you are saying so now. Recession doesn’t happen overnight,” Mr. Abdulahi argued.
“APC didn’t cause the price of crude to drop to $24 per barrel and when that happened in an economy that depends solely on what happens to the price of crude, the end result is very clear.
“Recession happened in the UK. It happened in the US. There are several kinds of recessions. There is structural recession; cyclical recession and they are different reasons recession happen.”
The APC spokesperson said unless he was provided with empirical evidence, it would be difficult to believe the rate of suicide in the country was getting higher and was caused by the hard economic situation.
Answering question on claims more Nigerians were taking their lives than ever, he said, “The claims you just made is contrary to everything I know. How can you say the government caused people to commit suicide? Are people not committing suicide in the UK?
“I am a social scientist and to reach that kind of conclusion, I need to see evidence of cause and effect. I will not just sit down and make conclusion that the reason people are committing suicide it because things are hard.
“Then I would be making a motor park argument. I can’t say people are committing suicide because economic situation. I don’t know your background but as long as I can remember, we’ve repeatedly heard that the population of Nigeria living below the poverty line is 70 percent.
“These are people living on less than $1 per day. Is it the APC that caused 70 percent of Nigerians to live below the poverty line which is the classic definition of the poorest of the poor?”
Mr. Abdulahi, however, said the APC-led federal government has made significant success in the fight against Boko Haram, reduced the level of corruption and impunity and was pushing the economy gradually out of recession.
According to him, the cardinal programmes of the Buhari administration were to defeat Boko Haram, tackle corruption and address youth unemployment.
He said the anti-corruption initiative of the government has led to arrest, massive loot recovery and prosecution of alleged looters.
He, however, said the N-Power programme of the government was a good example of the measures taken by the administration to create jobs for young people.
“You will agree with me two years after, there has been a consciousness about the alarming issue of corruption in Nigeria. People are talking about it and seeing it more now as a challenge than it was before,” the APC spokesperson said.
“Arrests are being made, former governors are being detained and people are being charged to court. It’s not over but the fact that there is an increased consciousness and everybody now knows that corruption cannot be taken with impunity then there is some progress.
“Again, what has been so difficult during the period is the issue of the economy. The economy went into recession at the time the APC was taking over and that challenged the capacity of the government to do a lot of things.
“But in spite of these, the N-Power project that was launched recently was a bold attempt to deal with the issue of as we move on.
“I mean women who have been given jobs to cook for children in schools. Some Nigerians have benefited from small credit scheme called ‘Market Money’ and a lot of other things like that.”
