Uba Sani, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, has warned against repeated and persistent criticisms of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) fiscal and monetary policies.
He claimed that the development was sending out the incorrect signals about Nigeria’s economy at a time when the country sorely needs trust and stronger collaboration with local and international investors and development partners.
The Senator, who represents Kaduna Central in the National Assembly’s upper house, denounced as overblown assertions that Nigeria’s economy is on the verge of imploding.
“It is true that our economy is suffering some strains. But it is a global phenomenon that was largely engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 is a natural tragedy that no one, including the government, could have predicted. As a result, the world economy is slowing, and Nigeria’s economy is no exception in this era of globalization. Globally, we are witnessing a force majeure situation,” he remarked in a discussion in his National Assembly office.
“Pouring all the responsibility on the CBN, or more accurately, on the CBN Governor, as some individuals are currently doing, is not helpful. I don’t believe that taking that way on a regular basis is very beneficial. We should quit blaming each other and do what we need to do to help Nigeria’s economy fully recover from the terrible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Senator stated.
Senator Sani said Senate President , Dr. Ahmed Lawan has admonished the necessary Committees in the Senate, including the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial institutions, that he (Senator Uba Sani) chairs, to offer the CBN, Ministries, Department and Agencies all the legislative support that is within their competences and powers, in the bid to strengthen the Naira and the nation’s economy at large.“As you may be aware, the National Assembly, especially the Senate is set to receive the 2022 budget from Mr. President. In fact, I believe that this budget would be presented to us this week. In the Senate, we have resolved to approach the 2022 budget differently. This is not the time for bogus or outlandish projects or programmes. We intend to streamline the 2022 budget to meet our needs not our wants. These are desperate times and desperate measures are needed to help our economy recover. We will not join the blame game; rather we are determined to help the CBN, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office of the Federation and other MDAs in a consistent manner,” Senator Uba Sani added.
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The Senator contended that managing the economy of any nation is like an orchestra, where several members of the group must play their roles consistently and seamlessly. He said: ‘’For example, no matter how perfect any policy of the CBN is, the complementary efforts of other agencies of government would be needed to achieve the desired gain or goal. “
A policy is a journey and not a destination. If the CBN introduces a wonderful fiscal or monetary policy today, if that policy does not enjoy complementary backing from critical MDAs like the Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, NNPC, EFCC, ICPC, NFIU, the Police, Customs and so on, that policy would amount to nothing at the end of the day.
So, my candid advice is that we stop heaping all the blames on the CBN and the CBN Governor. Let us all work together to achieve full recovery of our economy which was messed up by the pandemic.”
The Senator similarly likened the management of a nation’s economy to a football team. “The forward line, that is the strikers must strive to score goals; but for them to score goals, the mid fielders must supply them with balls as accurately and consistently as possible. And for any football team to win, the defenders must ensure that the opponent does not outscore the team.
They must defend efficiently and the goal keeper must have the agility and reflexes of cat. So, one person can not be a striker, a defender, midfielder and goal keeper at the same time. Let us stop the blame game and the de-marketing of our economy. Rather, let us roll our sleeves and do the needful to help our economy rebound,” Senator Uba Sani said.The Senator recalled that several Nigeria had commended the same CBN for its decisive interventions in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that he is aware that the CBN created credit facilities for the healthcare; Targeted Credit Facility and Manufacturing Sector. These interventions, Senator Uba Sani said prevented the country from sliding into a long recession.
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