Hadi Sirika, former minister of aviation, has rejected suggestions that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari left Nigeria in economic distress.
Sirika said his years in government gave him a clear understanding of the state of the nation under Buhari, adding that the former president’s stewardship had been unfairly portrayed.
Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, the former minister said the country was in a sound socioeconomic position during Buhari’s tenure.
The former minister said he disagreed with claims that Buhari’s policies were responsible for the country’s current economic challenges.
“I don’t want to get dragged into that debate, but the truth of the matter is that President Buhari has done extremely very well on the economy,” Sirika said.
“And I’m not an economist, but I do know so because I’ve been in the country, I’ve been in the government, I know so.
”And I’ve seen that the country at the time was in good state both economically and the social issues within the country.”
Asked to assess the performance of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Sirika declined to offer criticism, saying it would be inappropriate to second-guess decisions taken by a government in which he plays no role.
He noted that every administration responds to the peculiar realities of its time and should be judged within that context rather than through the lens of a previous government.
He added that, for that reason, he would rather refrain from publicly evaluating Tinubu’s choices, insisting it would be unfair to criticise policies without bearing the responsibility of implementing them.
“I do believe that he led the country that is flourishing. Because I am not President Muhammadu Buhari, and neither am I President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to really comment on the policies that they have made… I don’t think it’s been fair for me to sit down and make a critique of why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did this or not,” he said.
Sirika also said there was no contradiction between the policy directions of the Buhari and Tinubu administrations, noting that both leaders were implementing the ideals of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“But I want to say categorically that the policies by President Muhammadu Buhari are policies of our party and the policies that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is pursuing are policies of our party,” Sirika said.
“So as an APC person, I do believe that they are not doing things, just off the top of their head, you know, to inflict injury on the country. No, I don’t think so.”
