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Nigeria has never benefited from naira devaluation –Buhari

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(local) Osun Perm Sec, Director, driver kidnapped in Kogi Three officials of the Osun State Government were on Friday kidnapped by gunmen on the Obajana – Lokoja road in Kogi State. Those abducted were Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Adebimpe Ogunlumade, a Director from the ministry, Tajudeen Badejoko, and a driver, Oladapo Arogundade Ajani. A statement by the Osun State Head of Service, Sunday Olayinka Owoeye, stated that the trio were kidnapped at gunpoint while returning to Osogbo from Abuja. Read also: Kaduna govt asks court to sentence 50 Shi’ites to death He said the state Auditor General who also in the team escaped the scene of the abduction. The head of service statement read in part, "The officials were returning from Abuja where they attended the briefing on the State and Local Government Reforms Project; a World Bank and European Union Programme”. The Osun State Police Command Public Relations officer, Folasade Odoro, confirmed the incident and said efforts were being made to rescue the victims, but the Commissioner of Police in Kogi state, Yakubu Usman, told the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) on phone, that he was in Abuja to attend a conference, and that he has not been briefed on the incident. Focus keyword (kidnap) Meta keyword Perm sec kidnapped, osun officials, osun state, kogi state

President Muhammadu Buahri on Friday said he was not interested in devaluing the naira because Nigeria did not benefit anything from such previous exercise.

According to the President, devaluation has never benefitted the vast majority of the Nigerian people in any tangible way.

The President stated this in a meeting with members of the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries, adding that he still held the conviction which motivated his principled resistance to devaluation in his first tenure as Head of State.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, quoted the President as saying: “When I was military Head of State, the IMF and the World Bank wanted us to devalue the Naira and remove petrol subsidy but I stood my grounds for the good of Nigeria.

Read also: FG, States, LGs share 299.7bn for March as revenues decrease

“The Naira remained strong against the Dollar and other foreign currencies until I was removed from office in August, 1985 and it was devalued.

“But how many factories were built and how many jobs were created by the devaluation?

“That is why I’m still asking to be convinced today on the benefits of devaluation,” the President told the retired Permanent Secretaries led by Otunba Christopher Tugbobo.

Speaking at the meeting with the President, the first pioneer chairman of the council, Chief Philip Asiodu, said members of the council want the present administration to succeed because Nigeria has already lost many opportunities for progress.

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