Soludo grades Jonathan “F” on economy; says his administration the worst ever

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Soludo, has delivered a ruthless evaluation of the Nigerian economy under President Goodluck Jonathan, ranking the administration “F” on economic management, and suggesting the Jonathan government is Nigeria’s worst as far as the management of the economy is concerned.

Mr. Soludo said while Mr. Jonathan lacks achievements to point to, or clear future plans as he seeks re-election, his main challenger, the All Progressives Congress, APC’s presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, also lacks specific plans on how to salvage Nigeria’s economy should he win elections next month.

“My advice to President Jonathan and his handlers is to stop wasting their time trying to campaign on his job record. Those who have decided to vote for him will not do so because he has taken Nigeria to the moon. His record on the economy is a clear ‘F’ grade,” Mr. Soludo said.

“Everywhere else in the world, government performance on the economy is measured by some outcome variables such as: income (GDP growth rate), stability of prices (inflation and exchange rate), unemployment rate, poverty rate, etc.

On all these scores, this government has performed worse than its immediate predecessor— Obasanjo regime. If we appropriately adjust for oil income and debt, then this government is the worst in our history on the economy.”

Mr. Soludo’s assessment, in a lengthy article published Sunday, took aim at the government’s economic policies that have resulted in unprecedented levels of poverty and unemployment.

He said the economy appears to be on “auto pilot” and lambasted the president’s economic team led by Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as a team “dominated by self-interested and self-conflicted group of traders and businessmen”.

Mr. Soludo said the government of Mr. Jonathan lacks excuse for its woeful performance since it inherited a relatively robust economy and also enjoyed years of oil boom…

– Premium Times