By Seyi Babalola
Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “to struggle through the hard path by rethinking Nigeria’s relationship with the Bretton Woods Institutions, realistically assessing the performance of his appointees and sacking those constituting a cog in the wheel of the progress of his administration through their clear unproductivity and sabotage.”
The CNPP, a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema, while reacting to the call by the called by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the federal government to completely phase out petrol and electricity subsidies in the country in its ‘Post Financing Assessment (PFA)’ report.
The umbrella association of all registered political parties and political associations in Nigeria noted in the statement that “restoring macroeconomic stability in Nigeria should come from homegrown policies and programmes as IMF solutions have never aided Nigeria’s economic recovery, rather our economic woes worsened every time Bretton Woods Institutions’ advisories were implemented in Africa.
“While removal of subsidy, due to the attendant corruption that bedevilled its payment was desirable, it was akin to shooting down Nigeria’s economy by implementing subsidy removal policy without functional refineries for local production of petroleum products.
“The call by IMF for the complete phase out of petrol and electricity subsidies in the country is a suggestion to the Bola Tinubu administration to inflict more hardship on already suffering masses of Nigeria.
“Has the IMF ever advised the USA and European countries on removal of subsidies on cotton, which has been detrimental to one of Africa’s leading cotton exporters, Burkina Faso?
“It’s on record that in Europe in 2019, €38.2 billion was spent on direct payments to farmers and €13.8 billion on rural development, with a further €2.4 billion supported the market for agricultural products. Has the IMF ever spoken about energy and agricultural subsidies in the USA and the European countries?
“We therefore urge President Bola Tinubu to focus on homegrown solutions to Nigeria’s economic crisis and jettison policy advisories from the IMF and other Bretton Woods Institutions.
“We equally call on Mr. President to sack all unproductive appointees and identify those who are engaging in economic sabotage, especially as regards revenue generation in the oil and gas sector, and relieve them of their duties to increase foreign exchange earnings”, the CNPP counselled.
