President Bola Tinubu announced on Sunday that total government revenues have more than doubled, surpassing N9.1 trillion in the first half of 2024.
Tinubu made the revelation during a national address in response to widespread protests by citizens decrying the rising cost of living accentuated by inflation and spiking petroleum prices. The protests prompted key figures in the country to urge the President to speak out and address the concerns of the protesters.
In response, Tinubu, in his address on Sunday, said that his administration has made significant strides in 14 months to rebuild the foundation of the economy albeit through painful but necessary reforms.
He revealed that aggregate government revenue is impressive when compared to the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.
He attributed the success to his administration’s efforts at blocking leakages, introducing automation and mobilising funds creatively without additional burden on the people.
He said: “Coming from a place where our country spent 97% of all our revenue on debt service; we have been able to reduce that to 68% in the last 13 months. We have also cleared legitimate outstanding foreign exchange obligations of about $5 billion without any adverse impact on our programmes.
“This has given us more financial freedom and the room to spend more money on you, our citizens, to fund essential social services like education and healthcare. It has also led to our states and local governments receiving the highest allocations ever in our country’s history from the federation account.
“Our once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the reforms I announced in May 2024 to address the gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act. Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve. Investors are coming back and we have already seen two Foreign Direct Investments signed of over half a billion dollars since then.”
Reacting to the broadcast, economic experts who spoke to Daily Sun criticised the administration, pointing out that citizens are yet to feel the impact of the much-touted reforms.
Financial analyst, Kalu Aja, said that the reforms announced were reversed secretly and the programmes done were implemented poorly.
“I don’t think he understands the situation well but I would still think that his instincts as a political juggernaut are not lost. He needs to run an open and inclusive government that supports all Nigerians,” he said.
Also reacting, the National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, lamented that the bold and daring policies of the administration have turned into a nightmare for Nigerians as their purchasing power have dwindled over the last few months.
“The way and manner it was said, I had known this was not going to be simple but I never envisaged that the country could plunged into this kind of abyss because still after over 14 months, we are yet to make a headway. This is a big shame. I don’t really have much to say but it is time this government tries additional reforms because it is obvious the ones they had embarked on, are not working”.
SOURCE: THESUN
