Recession: Stop Taking Baby Steps, Give Nigerians Results, ICAN Boss Tells Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari[/caption]
The Registrar and Chief Executive, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Rotimi Omotoso, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take bold leadership steps in addressing Nigeria’s economic crisis.
Omotoso, who spoke on ways Nigeria’s economy can be revamped, urged the president to quit “taking baby steps” and take the bull by the horn if he is serious about steering the country out of recession.
“To be frank, what Nigerians want are results, we don’t want baby steps, we want bold steps; bold and courageous leadership,” the ICAN Boss said during an interview with Guardian Newspaper.
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“I believe the government is doing a few things that are good. Firstly, it is the deregulation of the exchange market whereby it is what you buy, you sell, and you don’t have minimisation of the dual currency market, whereby the black market is being merged with the official market, so that we don’t have under the carpet transaction.
“Secondly is the deregulation of the downstream oil market whereby the subsidy that is already being expended on importation of fuel and agro allied products are being channelled into more productive sectors.
“Thirdly is the recovery of funds from many individuals according to government; it is the information they have given us, we have not audited what they have said, but we hear what they say and the people have not denied it.
“I believe those three steps; especially the recovery of public funds stolen from the country’s wealth is in the right direction.
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“The foreign exchange market that is being deregulated that we don’t have multiplicity of exchange rates is a good thing, and the oil sector where we don’t have to expend so much of our money on subsidising on importation of fuel that is never available, we also believe that is well but we are not there yet, the government is not there yet.
“There is still a lot to be done, we need more transparency in financial accounting and reporting; we need timely information from the government and we need action,” Omotoso added.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, during an interview with CNBC at the IMF/World Bank annual meeting in Washington DC, assured Nigerians that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is “very much on course” in response to the country being in recession.
