Nigeria’s current economic difficulty and hardship is a result of the “reckless” policies of former president Muhammadu Buhari, the Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole has said.
Oshiomhole, who made the statement during a television interview on Sunday, said President Bola Tinubu should not be held responsible for the decisions made by the past administration.
The senator was questioned during the interview on whether or not his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is to blame for Nigeria’s current economic downturn.
In response, Oshiomhole stated that he always prioritises national interest above political interests and criticised the Buhari administration for many of its policies.
He described how he rejected the previous administration’s currency redesign program, which he claimed caused Nigerians great suffering.
“My first loyalty is to the Nigerian nation. At some point, before the last president left office, I lamented loudly what I saw as reckless policies that were designed to dehumanise the population that was already in pain,” the former Labour Party chairman said.
“I felt that it was not what the then president promised. I dissociated myself from those policies and I’m happy that I was not the only one.
“There were governors who approached the court to denounce some of those policies.
“It is the long-term consequences of those policies that we are still grappling with now.”
Speaking further on Nigeria’s hardship, he said although it was his party that was in power in the last administration, Tinubu was not a member of the cabinet or an adviser.
“Yes, it is our party platform. Like Tinubu also said, he was not a minister or adviser. He never took a contract in that government and he cannot be held responsible for what the government did right or wrong.”
Buhari led Nigeria from 2015 to 2023, under the APC platform before transferring power to Tinubu, the party’s nominee for president in the February 2023 election.
Tinubu made several promises to Nigerians in the run-up to the 2023 elections that he would build on Buhari’s legacy.
During the campaigns, the ECOWAS chair also praised the “achievements” of the Buhari-led administration, promising to uphold them.