All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun said yesterday that the suffering by Nigerians as a result of the economic hardship in the country is not the making of the party.
Addressing a news conference at the party secretariat in Abuja, he said the Buhari government inherited a collapsed economy, stressing that the corruption investigation is affecting members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) more because they stayed longer in government and mismanaged the economy for 16 years.
Oyegun said it is not possible to rebuild a collapsed structure overnight without first clearing the debris.
He noted that while the Buhari administration could feel the hardship Nigerians were passing through, there is not going to be a quick fix for the economy.
He said: “Our party, the APC, is aware of the hardship that the misgovernment of the last 16 years plunged this country. We are aware of the hard times, the tough times that Nigerians at the margin are going through. Apart from the party, I must also say that it is one of the main concerns of Mr. President.
“He is fully conscious and aware of the tough times that people are going through. I want to assure the people through you that everything is being done to stabilise the economy and to ameliorate the deprivation that the people are going through.
“The Buhari administration inherited a prostrate economy. Not just that, nobody envisaged that there will be a near total collapse of the price of crude and when you juxtapose that with our consumption habit – when we tend to import virtually everything from toothpick to choice champagne, which puts pressure on the foreign exchange stock of the nation and as a result, put up a lot of issues that are being dealt with today by the President’s team.
He said the citizens consumed heavily in the past because oil was sold at over $100 a barrel, stressing that situation had changed.
Oyegun urged Nigerians to adjust to the new reality.
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