The former minister of youth and sports developments under former President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Solomon Dalung, has upbraided the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu since his inauguration on May 29th 2023, saying the removal of fuel subsidy by the government has subjected Nigerians to hardship

Speaking on ‘Sunrise Daily,’ a daily morning show on Channels Television, Mr. Dalung said President Tinubu’s administration has performed below expectations with its economic policies despite blaming the past administration for the situation of the country.

Mr Dalung further flayed the government for demanding sacrifice from Nigerians while the cost of governance continues to increase as the president continues to expand his cabinet with more appointments of special advisers and assistants to his administration.

The floating of the Naira and the money-sharing formula, Mr. Dalung continued when discussing the current living conditions of Nigerians, have made it difficult for the average Nigerian to afford their food and other essential amenities for sustainability.

“I think when you demand for sacrifice, be exemplary. Sacrifice should begin with you as a leader then people will follow that is why people are referred to as followers so the reverse cannot be the case the policy we are dealing with, the economic policy we are dealing with are inhumane policies have affected the lives of the citizens terribly and in recent history Nigerians have not faced terrible situations like the one we are dealing with.

“The sudden withdrawal of oil subsidy without issuing mechanisms on ground. The floating of Naira and even the attempt of the government to introduce the same method of sharing of money indeed compounded the whole situation you have inflation rising, you have the cost of living increasing and Nigerians cannot afford to eat.

“The policy of the government from May 29th have not been favourable and you said people should hope for a better future. The sacrifice should start with the leader, we should cut the cost of living, we should see the government officials behaving in tandem with the policies but they are living very fine and very comfortable , the government is having one of the largest cabinet in the history of the country, appointing special advisers, special assistants. The cost of governance is increasing while people are being asked to sacrifice”, he said.

Comparing President Tinubu’s administration to Buhari’s, the former minister of Youth and Sports Development praised Buhari for cutting the cost of governance at an earlier stage of his administration in 2015, indicating that the former president ensured that his cabinet members cut the cost of their living for a lower cost of living.

He also slammed supporters of the current administration for blaming the country’s economic hardship on Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as irrelevant and flimsy. Mr Dalung added that since government is a continuum as the current administration is in the same political party as the immediate government, they should be collectively held responsible for the Nigerian’s situation.

“Well, Buhari administration in 2015 demonstrated sacrifice because, I mean, the ministers were 36 and we were allowed to appoint one special assistant and a PA. I lived in the hotel for six months for accommodation. I spent four years as a minister using my private vehicle. Indeed, we sacrificed and that yielded benefit because, within a short period, we could move Nigeria out of recession to 2.7 per cent growth.

“The argument by the people in government that they inherited this, we inherited that is the same APC government. Even me as someone who has left cannot exonerate myself from the current situation because I was part of those in 2015 who mobilised Nigerians promising them change, but as at 2023 the indices had retrogressively reversed back to even pre-2015.

“I do not think that argument makes sense because even the president said do not pity me; I looked for the job and I got it, meaning he knew the situation before he contested. Most of the people who are defending this were also in Buhari’s government. Are they now saying that the exit of Buhari on May 29 has changed things? No. It is not a new government; it is the same government and the same manifesto.”

The former Nigerian minister concluded by also criticising the Buhari administration for condoning corruption through his tenure in government. He stated that the former president, despite his promise to Nigerians to fight the scourge of corruption had major cases of corrupt public officials under his watch.

He consequently noted that even though the former president was advised by some members of the cabinet of the past administration, he could not implement some policies to mitigate discrepancies in government due to divergent opinions from the different sectors of the government.

“In terms of the performance of the Buhari government in 8 years, you would have to measure government commitment to democratic the promises the government made. Now the war against corruption was one of the major promises we made to Nigerians in 2015 and the government did not at all succeed in delivering the promise in fighting corruption. Rather monumental corruption surfaced than pre-2015 .

“For instance, in one transaction the account general of the federation was accused of misappropriating 1.9billion Naira under our watch and that is the government that promised to fight corruption under the same administration, in NDDC 81 billion was spent during the COVID by that agency, it became an issue that was investigated by the National Assembly where the GMD was invited and suddenly and fainted and he collapsed also. There are so many instances of some of these practices. The report is pointing to the fact that the government promised to fight corruption appeared, overwhelmed the government and defeated it.