The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, yesterday said that Nigeria was not broke.
The former governor of Lagos state, disclosed this on a programme on Channels television.
While fielding questions from Seun, programme anchor, the eloquent minister argued that being indebted and being able to service your debt in conventional finance is not being broke.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, last week, warned that urgent action is needed to address the nation’s revenue challenge and expenditure efficiency at both the national and sub-national levels.
Report sighted by Journalists showed that gross oil and gas federation revenue for the first four months of the year was projected at N3.12 trillion but as at April 30, only N1.23 trillion was realised, representing a mere 39% performance.
However, reacting to the indebtedness of Nigeria, the Honorable Minister opined: “To the best of my knowledge, Nigeria is not broke. Being indebted and being able to service your debt in conventional finance is not being broke.
“In any event you have to understand that the business of lending itself is a profitable business. So if nobody contracted debts where will all the banks and other financial institutions be? Where will they throw all the people they employ?
“So this is a matter of credit rating and credit reputation. It is this home economics mentality that I cannot take debts that led us to take 12billion dollars cash to go and payoff a debt we could have rescheduled, renegotiated when our infrastructure was dying. That mentality must leave our table.
“All the big nations we want to compete with are contracting debts to build their infrastructure and stand in competition. As long as you can service your debts, you are good.
“I can conveniently tell you that I am not the Nigeria’s minister of Finance; my job is to spend the money not to earn it.
“I am concerned and every responsible Nigerian should have his eyes on the debts and should be concerned.”
Related Posts
- 72
Oyo State Governor, ’Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, restated the commitment of his administration to keep Oyo State safe and secured. The governor, while receiving the Association of Retired Officers of the Department of State Services of Nigeria (Oyo State Chapter), led by its Chairman, Alhaji Lateef Akinola, said that… - 70
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has asked Nigerians to embrace the right firefighting attitudes as there are going to be more incidents of man-made fire outbreaks as the dry season sets in. He also advised that more rigorous awareness campaigns on fire safety and prevention should be embarked upon… - 70
The National Population Commission (NPC) has launched a situation room in preparation for the 2023 census. Speaking at the launch in Abuja Wednesday, Chairman of NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, said the 2023 census will help to complement the effort to revive Nigeria’s economy with data to make critical economic…
