A former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, tells SUCCESS NWOGU that he does not agree with the Federal Government that Nigeria has come out of recession among other issues

Can you tell us about the economic blueprint used during your tenure as the Minister for National Planning?

I do not like flogging my stewardship because it is more than two years now since I left government. But, it should be remembered that I had a short stay in government and within that short stay, I ensured that two major frameworks were approved by the Federal Government. One of those frameworks was the infrastructure master plan which was enunciated to address the infrastructure lacuna in the country. If the government of the day was doing something about its implementation, I think this country would not have a problem with the issue of infrastructure because in that master plan, we identified the gap and identified the aspiration, and where we were going as a country. We were able to make comparisons don’t where other developing countries were and where they are today.

The second programme or plan that was approved by the Federal Government was the one that had to do with the donor agencies, especially the international development partners. We have many donor agencies that came to Nigeria to assist us. But we observed that when some of them came to address issues affecting internally displaced persons, such as power or health challenges, the country did not have the coordinating hub – with all of them doing almost the same thing across the states. Whether those things they were doing were in tandem with our needs, they did not care. There was the need to coordinate what most of them were doing, especially in the states. For instance, they wanted to spend N10bn in Sokoto State; out of that, they ended up spending more than N1.8bn on consultants. At the end of the day, they are only spending N8.2bn. we must address that. There should be a framework so that when you are giving us that aid or grant, it must be judiciously utilised. It must be geared towards the need of the people so that it does not look as if you are just rolling out figures or monies and the monies end up in some people’s pockets. I think these are some of the issues that we were able to address during our time.

What is your opinion about the country’s current state of the economy?

The government of the day, out of their own propaganda and a way of impressing Nigerians and the international community, could find it convenient to posit that the country is out of recession. But when you look at the various indicators, you will know that the country is still deeply in recession. There is nothing that was there last year that has really changed. There could be slight improvement and there could be some kind of fluctuation. Yes, today perhaps the exchange rate has calmed down, but it is fluctuating. It has not come to stay. It has not stabilised; inflation rate is still on the increase. The investment profile has not really improved. So when you look at those things that qualify an economy to be in recession, they are still very much there. Since they are still there, I do not believe that the country is out of recession yet. Yes, even though we are a party in opposition and I belong to the party in opposition, when a country is in recession, either you are in opposition or in government, a Muslim or a Christian, we all feel the pinch.

It is our prayer and our hope that we get out of recession. But we will only come out of recession if we are able to advance our facts and figures in a way that they will not deceive the international community and our sympathisers that are there to assist us. Nigeria is still in recession. Joblessness is still on the increase. Inflation rate has not changed. The exchange rate keeps on fluctuating. It has not gone back where it used to be when we left government. Starvation is still there. The banking sector is not improving. There is nothing to show that we are out of it.

Are you saying foreign investors don’t have confidence in the economy, even with the fight against corruption by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government?

I keep on saying that what this government is doing is not fighting against corruption. What we have been experiencing since this administration came on board is a fight against perceived enemies. What we are experiencing, so far, is propaganda to further decimate the opposition party. What is happening in Nigeria is not fight against corruption. If it is fighting against corruption, the questions are: Has the Nigeria Police Force stopped collecting of ‘tips’ on the street? Have lecturers stopped collecting ‘tips’? Have average civil servants changed their attitude towards corrupt practices? Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics said, for the last one year, the number of civil servants who have collected bribes is on the increase. The NBS is a government agency. So, nothing has changed.

There is nothing to show that what Buhari’s government has been doing is a fight against corruption. Most of us are not even corrupt but are being adjudged by the government of the day as being corrupt, thus creating an impression before the public that they took government from us because we were corrupt: ‘You can see the figure of the money they took.’ If anybody is not a case study, I am a case study. Nigerian people are very intelligent but appear to be gullible. We take everything from the government, especially a government that claims to have integrity – whatever they say is final. Some of us do not even read between the lines. Out of the many cases they took to court, they didn’t win one.

What do you think about the Federal Government’s anti-corruption strategy?

I have not seen any measure or policy put in place or any mechanism put in place by the government of the day to re-orientate Nigerians on corrupt practices. Under Buhari’s military government, we had the War Against Indiscipline. Under (Gen. Sani) Abacha, we had War on Corruption. Are there modules for Nigerian students? Is there any mechanism put in place by the government of the day either via public information system on corrupt practices? Is there any genuine crusade to address corruption? Have the members of the National Assembly stopped their attitude of ‘contractocracy’? Has padding of the budget reduced? Have they addressed that?

If they are fighting corruption, based on the various revelations, even from the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, and the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai, are their no allegations of corrupt practices against them? What are they doing about that? When you look at it all over, you see that the essence of the anti-corruption posture of this government is to decimate the opposition and give an impression that people of the (Goodluck) Jonathan administration are corrupt people. It is a policy of extinction from the political space and you have to justify it.

Despite all the revelations, are you insisting that Jonathan’s government was not corrupt?

From all the revelation, I am insisting that Jonathan’s government did its best for Nigerians. It is a government that showed great love, care and presented many opportunities for Nigerians. It might not have been perfect and no human system is perfect. Because of some imperfections, therefore, you could identify some of the officials who are also Nigerians. You can allege certain things against them because of their level of imperfection. Some of these issues have yet to be proved before the court of law. I keep on saying this: corruption, if there is any, is not peculiar to Jonathan’s government. If you claim that some officials under Jonathan were corrupt, is it the same Jonathan’s administration that is making some policemen to be corrupt, making some lecturers to be corrupt, and making those who work in financial institutions to be corrupt? Have they really traced any corrupt practice to Jonathan as a person? In two years of this government now, there is no proven case of conviction against any of the alleged high-profile persons to date. Is there any?

(The former Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew) Yakubu, for instance, was removed by Jonathan. Why was he removed? When he was removed, where did he go to? Which party did he work for? He worked for the All Progressives Congress. Some officials that were perceived to be corrupt, Jonathan removed them, including the then Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah. Some governors that belonged to the same PDP were being tried under Jonathan. I am not saying some officials were not corrupt. But the fact that some officials were corrupt does not mean that Jonathan was corrupt. Yes, Jonathan could say, ‘Since some of these officials were corrupt, I take responsibility as a president.’ But that does not mean that the only thing about Jonathan is corruption, which is the picture this government is trying to paint.

It is like saying that Buhari is corrupt because the SGF is alleged to be corrupt, or because Buratai is alleged to be corrupt, or because the former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency is alleged to be corrupt and the padding, as revealed by Jubril, who is a member of the APC too, which means all the senators and members of the House of Representatives that belong to APC are corrupt. So, you cannot draw the conclusion that Buhari’s government too is corrupt. If that is the parameter to assess a corrupt leader, then Buhari’s government is corrupt.

What about the corruption case involving the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke?

I cannot speak for Diezani. You must know that Jonathan inherited her from (Olusegun) Obasanjo and (Umaru) Yar’Adua’s governments. She has not spoken on most of these allegations. She has not appeared before any court of law to defend herself, so it would be unfair on my own side to speak on whether she is guilty or not. Yes, the revelation is shocking and worrisome, but it will be unfair for me as an intellectual and a Muslim to now pass blame on whether she is right or wrong. One thing you must know is that Diezani was never a poor person before she came to government. She worked with Shell Petroleum. She was in money before she came on board as a minister to the best of my knowledge. So, to just make a sweeping condemnation, believing that everything forfeited or identified as Diezani’s property or assets are ill-gotten, I do not think that is fair enough. But the revelations are worrisome, mind-boggling. It took a lot of people by surprise, including me but again, we should still give her the benefit of the doubt.

(PUNCHNG)