Neda Imasuen, a Labour Party (LP) Senator who represents Edo South in the National Assembly, has blamed the twin policies of petroleum subsidy removal and unification of forex windows by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
He said Nigerians, particularly the working class, are paying too much a price for the supposed changes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by Tinubu.
The lawmaker said the lawmaking body “can only support them (the executive) and trust that their plan takes us to the destination”.
Imasuen expressed, “This is not the time to trade blame; it’s time to sit down and say, look, our people are suffering, how do we sort out the situation we have found ourselves?
“The steps that are being taken, I’m afraid that the suffering that Nigerians are going through presently is an excess of a cost to pay for it.
“Presently, this is a country that we don’t produce, we import, and we are depreciating our naira. I fail to understand how that will help us. Everything is attached to the dollar, and the dollar keeps going up.
“How about we foster our enterprises. These SMEs work a lot if we can strengthen small and medium enterprises and give the middle class breathing space to do what he has to do.
“On this inquiry of subsidy, there is no country that does not subsidize, especially particularly in the area of agriculture. Our farmers need access to funding, and they need government intervention to produce the food that we need. Today, many can’t buy a bag of rice; it’s about N100,000.”
Imasuen likewise said state governments have parts to play in alleviating the suffering of the people, but they are not playing their parts.
Nigerians are confronted with the worst economic crises in many years, with soaring inflation fueled by skyrocketing energy and food costs. The working class is the most hit, with a significant number of them forfeiting their vehicles to endure the uncommon difficulty in the country.
Pundits have blamed Tinubu’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange rates, which numerous Nigerians believed were responsible for the unfathomable inflation and high cost of living and energy costs in the country. Multitude of Nigerians have raged the streets in recent times to protest what they depicted as a deplorable economic circumstance in the country.
During his second Independence Day Anniversary Broadcast on October 1, 2024, the former Lagos governor sympathized with Nigerians over the economic hardship his changes might have caused whilst he guaranteed them that his administration had been busy implementing measures to cut down the high cost of living.
Tinubu pleaded for additional persistence and time, saying his administration is retooling its economic policies to ultimately benefit common Nigerians.
