The Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has criticised the policies of the Federal Government, which have led to increased hardship in the country.
Speaking at the launch of the Nigeria Development Update report by the World Bank in Abuja on Thursday, he said that the economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration were not yielding the desired results.
Mohammed also said that the revenues available to state governments are not enough to address the challenges in states.
He said, “We should go back to the basics. Nigerians are not enjoying the regime at this time across board, not only the federal government, including the state and local governments. Therefore, the onus rests on you, the finance and the managers of the economy.
“We need to come up with a budget programme with economic policies that will reduce hardship. The money that we are sharing is not enough. The report spoke about employment, wages, and how many per cent of Nigerians are even employed. Most of our people live in the informal sector; we should look at how we can make them self-employed.
“The purchasing power has dwindled, these policies are not working and you know that.”
While introducing the new report, Alex Sienaert, lead economist of the World Bank in Nigeria, said that to achieve the desired growth in the nation’s economy, the recently introduced macroeconomic stabilisation reforms should be backed up by creating productive jobs.
Also, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Ndiame Diop, said that while the reforms may be challenging, they are crucial for the nation’s long-term stability.
He added that opposing or reversing these reforms would be detrimental to the development of the country.
Punch
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