The National Rescue Movement on Thursday absolved President Bola Tinubu of blame for the escalating inflation and rising cost of living in the country.
Instead, the political party claimed some selfish traders and business owners should be held responsible for taking advantage of the current economic crisis to further punish the masses by inflating the cost of foodstuffs and other necessities.
The National Chairman of the NRM, Isaac Udeh, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Thursday in Abuja.
Nigeria has been plagued with hyperinflation and hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidies, the floating of the naira and other economic policies implemented by the Tinubu administration.
The economic challenges have made it tough for the masses to keep up with the rising cost of living, which recently culminated in a nationwide demonstration to protest against bad governance in the country.
But Udeh insisted that the president shouldn’t be made to take the fall for the malaise when it was obvious that some greedy people were smiling the situation to their advantage.
He said, “What is happening is quite unacceptable. The hardship is too much for the people to bear. All Mr President needs to do is review his policies and apply people-oriented ones. I am talking about policies that have a human face.
“On the other hand, the Nigerian people are also contributing to the hardship. Of course, I need to balance this. The masses are culpable. You cannot enter a shop today to buy something that costs N2,000. I can assure you that when you come for the same item in the next two days, you can’t get it for less than N2,500. Give it another four days, and you will hear a different price.
“Is that one the fault of the government or Mr President too? Let us be sincere with ourselves. Having said that, I expect that by now, the president ought to have summoned a meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, including suppliers of flour used for bread and pasta. Invite them for a meeting to know what the problems are.
“I understand the cost of bread, spaghetti and other products from flour is getting out of reach. We need to know the cause and bring in experts to remedy it. If you are a president and your people are hungry, food security should be one of your priorities. This should even be the duty of the minister in commerce and industry. But people will be fixated on the president. You can’t blame them though.”
Credit: Punch
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