Sheriff Oborevwori, the governor of Delta State, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s economic policies for unleashing unprecedented hunger, poverty, and mass unemployment on Nigerians, making Nigeria the world’s poverty capital.
Oborevwori explicitly stated that the potential gains from Tinubu’s initiatives on petroleum subsidy reduction and currency floating had been gobbled up by naira devaluation and galloping inflation.
In a statement issued on Monday by his executive assistant on New Media, Mr. Felix Ofou, the Delta governor stated that it was past time for the Tinubu administration to embrace policies that would alleviate poverty and suffering.
Oborevwori’s comments came against the assertion by the former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, that the President’s economic policies had led to increased federal allocation to state and local governments, rising economic growth rates, declining imports, higher exports, and higher incomes for farmers.
However, Oborevwori disputed the claim by Omo-Agege, questioning “the value of the increased funds amidst galloping inflation, naira devaluation, and widespread poverty.”
The governor cautioned against pursuing policies that deepen poverty and misery.
Oborevwori asked, “Can we talk about increased money in any state in Nigeria? What is the worth of such money in the face of galloping inflation, gross devaluation of the naira, unparalleled hunger, mass poverty, mass unemployment, and daily closure of major factories and multinationals in the country?
“Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have rightly stated that Tinubu’s economic policies are not working, that the policies have transformed Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world, with over 130 million of the population living below the poverty mark.
“Tinubu’s economic policies have unleashed economic hardship on Nigerians and are not a desirable model for Delta State.
“Is this the model that Omo-Agege is recommending for Delta to copy? A model that has unleashed economic hardship on the people? Why would anyone recommend APC’s T-Pain as a remedy to our woes? This is not a path desirable for Deltans and one they would want to embrace at this time,” he said.
