‘Current recession worse than the one of 2016, put 2023 ambition aside now,’ Obi tells politicians

The former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, on Sunday urged Nigerian politicians to put their 2023 political aspirations on the back burner and focus on how to rescue the country from the current economic crisis.

Obi, who was the running mate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in 2019 presidential election, was reacting to the news that Nigeria has slid back into recession.

He said on a Channels Television Programme, Sunday Politics, it is more important to solve the country’s economic problems than jostling for positioning ahead of next general elections in the country.

Obi insisted that the next election has no impact on people’s current livelihoods.

He stressed that the funds borrowed by the current administration were not properly put to use,” saying the government did not adequately prepare Nigerians for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read also: RECESSION: Only an intellectually competent leader can transform Nigeria – Moghalu

The ex-governor said: “Every other country is discussing the recession and how to pull their people out of poverty.

“So what we should do now is to concentrate on the monetary and fiscal policies to start pulling people out of poverty.

“If you see what happened with recent protests, you could see that we are heading into a problem.

“And I want our energy to be concentrated in that problem. The politicians, the class where I belong, should do more, seriously, across party lines, to be able to arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.

“For me, it is in discussing how do we put food on people’s table? Elections will come and we can see how to select the best. But let’s deal with the recession we have just entered before 2023.

“The cost of governance is not acceptable. There is too much waste. This recession is going to be worse than in 2016 because the monies we borrowed then were not properly invested.”

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