$3bn NPDC contract money stolen under Jonathan could have built 7 roads, 2nd Niger Bridge –Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday maintained his stand that the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan is the reason Nigeria’s economic growth has been down.

He said that the $3 billion strategic alliance contracts with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NDPC) alone, which the promoters of the companies later made away with during the last administration, could have built seven major roads across the country as well as the 2nd Niger Bridge.

According to him, these projects are now being undertaken by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“We cannot talk of the Nigerian economy without talking about the blight that was caused years ago by people simply stealing the resources of this country. Here is a list of possible roads 3 billion dollars could have built: Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road, 2nd Niger Bridge, Enugu-PH road, East-West road, Sagamu-Ore-Benin road, Kano-Maiduguri road, Abuja-Lafia-Akwanga-Keffi road, Plus Lagos-Abeokuta (old road).”

“Today, with less revenue but no leakage, we have increased funding capital in Power, Works and Housing, Defence, Transportation and Agriculture by as much as 400 per cent.

“We are two quarters out of the recession and firmly on the path of recovery. Our external reserves are at their highest levels in five years. Inflation has dropped for 13 consecutive months, manufacturing confidence is on the rise and in 2017, Nigeria moved ahead 24 places on the World Bank’s annual Doing Business Index. And the World Bank reported that Nigeria is among top ten reforming economies in the world.”

The Vice President stated this when he spoke at the 2018 Ogun State Investors’ Forum, held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

READ ALSO: JONATHAN TO OSINBAJO: You’ve surrendered your lips to Satan

Osinbajo had earlier on Monday at the Quarterly Presidential Business Forum, said that the main reason Nigeria has not been growing as expected was not just a matter of relying heavily on a single commodity, but the fact that the proceeds of that single commodity were regularly hijacked consistently by a few, adding that most of the proceeds go to rent seekers, who invest little in industry and production.

At that occasion Osinbajo alleged that the government of former President Jonathan “essentially shared” N150 billion two weeks to the 2015 polls.

Jonathan had in his response through his former spokesman, Reno Omokri, accused Osinbajo of surrendering his “lips to Satan for slandering and lying”.

 

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