The Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has stated that President Bola Tinubu’s administration inherited a bad economy.
Speaking to newsmen on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, Edun noted that the Tinubu administration inherited a bad economy with an unacceptable high rate of unemployment and inflation standing at 24 percent.
According to Edun, “per capita has fallen steadily, inflation is at 24 percent, unemployment is high, and you know they are rebasing the way in which it’s calculated. Either way, it is high, and youth unemployment is even unacceptably high; these are the key metrics that we have met.”
Edun also stated that the Federal Government is not in a position to borrow money at this time, adding that the emphasis is on how to create a macroeconomic environment where both local and foreign investors will invest and increase production.
“So, that is the plan. The expectation is that there will not be a reliance on borrowing. Rather, as revenues increase and the benefit of removing the fuel subsidy and the subsidy on the exchange rate increases, there will be more money for the government at all levels.”
Edun, who noted that the Council agreed that the economy is not where it ought to be, also stated that the FEC examined eight priority areas and identified targets to deliver in the next three years, adding that the President charged them to roll out policies and programs to turn the economy around.
“Essentially, we went through an exercise of looking at where things stood regarding the economy, growth rate, exchange rate, inflation, unemployment, and so on.
“The overriding conclusion is that we’re not where we should be, and we also examined the President’s eight-point agenda, that is, the eight priority areas for moving the Nigerian economy forward and for delivering to Nigerians, and those are basically food security; ending poverty; economic growth and job creation; access to capital, particularly consumer credit; inclusivity in all its dimensions as regards youths and women; improving security; improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate; rule of law; and of course, fighting corruption.
“It is around those matrixes that the plans and targets of what will be delivered in the next three years or so were identified, discussed, and inputs were given by various ministers, and we went away with the marching order to refine further the targets in particular and within weeks to start rolling out policies and programs to turn around the economy and make things better for all Nigerians.”
Chronicle NG reports that Tinubu on Monday, issued a marching order to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to implement initiatives aimed at reviving the economy.
He handed the charge to his ministers while presiding over his administration’s first FEC meeting, which was held at the State House Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
In his inauguration address to his 45 ministers, Tinubu emphasized the enormity of the work before the administration, demanding all those assigned responsibilities to give their all.
Tinubu stated that the administration’s main areas had been laid out in its economic programs and charged them with being prepared not to fail because there is no such thing as an impossibility in the dictionary of people-serving, adding that failure would not be excused under his watch.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
