• Accuses it of unleashing hardship on Nigerians
By Joe Obukata Ogbodu, Warri
Delta State Governor, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, has lampooned the All Progressives Congress, APC-led administration of President Bola Tinubu for unleashing on Nigerians economic policies that are gradually turning the country into the world’s poverty capital.
Oborevwori attributed the unprecedented hunger, poverty, and mass unemployment currently bedevilling Nigerians to economic policies that were deployed by the APC government.
The governor specifically frowned at such economic policies like the controversial petroleum subsidy removal and floating of the Naira, saying that whatever gains the subsidy removal would have brought had been swallowed by the Naira devaluation and galloping inflation.
He spoke in a statement by his Executive Assistant on New Media, Mr. Felix Ofou, while reacting to comments by the former Deputy Senate President (DSP), Senator Ovie Omo-Agege about the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led administration in Delta State.
Omo-Agege had, at an APC event, where the daughter of former governor, James Ibori, who defected from the PDP to the APC, applauded the economic policies of the Tinubu-led government, stressed that it has led to increased federal allocation to state and local governments, thereby raising economic growth rates.
He said despite the huge federal allocation to the states due to Tinubu’s economic policies, there were no meaningful projects or development to show for it, despite the state and local governments’ receipt of over N900 billion in the last one year and six months.
He specifically accused Governor Oborevwori of mismanaging Delta State’s funds and paying debts with what’s left, despite increased federal allocation and revenue from the 13 percent derivation.
But in a reaction, Governor Oborevwori disputed the assertions, questioning the value of the increased funds amidst galloping inflation, naira devaluation, and widespread poverty.
“Can we really talk of increased money in any state in Nigeria? What is the worth of such money in the face of galloping inflation, gross devaluation of the Naira, unparalleled hunger, mass poverty, mass unemployment, daily closure of major factories and multinationals in the country?”
The governor, in the statement, also emphasised that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have stated that Tinubu’s economic policies were not working, and that they were only transforming Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world.
“Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have rightly stated that Tinubu’s economic policies are not working. That the policies have transformed Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world, with over 130 million of the population living below the poverty mark.”
He maintained that Tinubu’s economic policies had unleashed hardship on Nigerians and were not a desirable model for Delta State.
“Is this the model that Omo-Agege is recommending for Delta to copy? A model that has unleashed economic hardship on the people? Why would anyone recommend the APC’s T-pain as a remedy to our woes? Obviously, this is not a path desirable for Deltans and one they would want to embrace at this time.”