For many Nigerians, the announcement that the country is in recession was a major setback for the nation’s economy. But for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it’s a time to settle political scores. WALE ELEGBEDE reports

The recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that confirmed that the nation’s economy is in recession was a damning verdict, especially to average Nigerians. According to the NBS, the Nigerian economy has gone into full recession after posting negative growth in the first two quarters of 2016.

The Bureau also stated that the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 2.06 per cent. According to the report: “During the reference period, the number of unemployed in the labour force increased by 1,158,700 persons, resulting in an increase in the national unemployment rate to 13.3 per cent in Q2 (second quarter) 2016 from 12.1 in Q1 (first quarter) 2016; 10.4 per cent in Q4 2015 from 9.9 per cent in Q3 2015 and from 8.2 per cent in Q2 2015.

“In view of this, there were a total of 26.06 million persons in the Nigerian labour force in Q2 2016 that were either unemployed or under-employed compared to 24.5 million in Q1 2016 and 22.6 million in Q4 2015. “The pace of the increase in the headline index was however weighed upon by a slower increase in three divisions, namely health, transport, and recreation and culture divisions.”

Although some analysts have long averred that the nation’s economy was already in recession, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had, however, in July, said the country was only in “technical recession.” Regardless of the economics semantics, the plunge in revenue occasioned by the low prices of oil which is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, the activities of Niger Delta Avengers blowing up oil installations and facilities thereby reducing the volume of the country’s crude sale, the tumbling of Naira to foreign currencies, have given many Nigerians a harrowing experience.

Aside the NBS report, the gloomy picture of the nation’s external reserves was also painted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its recent report.

According to the apex bank, the nation’s external reserves fell by 2.86 per cent to $25.45billion on August 29, 2016. Making a detour from her initial stance of technical recession, Adeosun, while aligning with the NBS figures, admitted that the nation is in recession but noted that “we can come out of a recession as soon as possible by sticking to the prescription which is, we must be disciplined in our expenditure.”

Also reacting to the report, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Adeyemi Dipeolu, said: “The just recently released data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that Gross Domestic Product declined by -2.06 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 on a year-on-year basis. “A close look at the data shows that this outcome was mostly due to a sharp contraction in the oil sector, due to huge losses of crude oil production as a result of vandalisation and sabotage.

“However, the rest of the Q2 data is beginning to tell a different story. There was growth in the agricultural and solid minerals sectors, which are the areas in which the Federal Government has placed particular priority.”

With the report on the downward state of the economy, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), decided to use the economic outlook to continue brickbats. The PDP, in a statement signed by   the spokesman of it National Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the APC government should face the challenge of putting the economy in a good shape instead of “crying like a helpless baby.”

While stating that the PDP had noticed that some governors of the APC are blaming the former ruling party and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for the current hardship in the country, the former minister specifically mentioned the governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar Badaru, as one of those he was referring to.

Adeyeye said: “It is really disappointing that a notable personality as highly-placed as a state governor could be drawn into making idle and pedestrian claims without the benefit of facts. It is either he does not realise the obligation of speaking responsibly in that position or he is grossly ill-informed. In which case, we could only try to put the facts before him, and hoping he would recognise them. “In the first place, this blame is misplaced because our elementary understanding of economics teaches us that the major cause of recession is inflation and poor handling of the economy given that the higher the rate of inflation, the more impoverished people become, industrial production and GDP decline resulting in massive job losses.

“Perhaps, we should quote those who should know and tell Governor Badaru that wrong economic policies of the APC-led government caused the current stagnation and recession in the country. However, beyond that, we make bold to tell Governor Badaru that Jonathan and the PDP government saw this coming since 2011, and wanted to deregulate the sale of hydrocarbons in 2012, but Badaru and his co-travellers who are now in the APC frustrated the effort.”

While calling on the APC-led government to look inward and stop the blame game, Adeyeye advised the Federal Government to invite economic experts irrespective of their political leaning to join hands with the administration at these trying times.

“They should be reminded that great leaders take over  countries either in recession or war and still succeed in turning them around; quite unlike the prevailing situation where a ruling party plunges the economy into an avoidable recession, only to turn round and begin to whine helplessly like a baby,” he said. Not ready to have any of PDP’s sermon, the APC, expectedly, said in a statement by its National Secretary, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, that the former ruling party lacks the moral basis and credibility to comment or condemn the government on the economy after the mess it left behind, stating that instead of lecturing it, the PDP must apologize to Nigerians.

His words: “The statement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the latest in the party’s insensitive plot to deflect attention from the voodoo economics and reckless fiscal policies the country was subjected to during its 16-year rule.

“The warning signs were glaring to the immediate-past administration but it chose the path of economic sabotage by looking the other way and squandering the country’s commonwealth – a reckless decision that has brought the country to its knees.

“Nigerians will recall that even the immediate-past finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy, confessed that the zero political will to save under the immediate-past administration is responsible for the challenges facing the country.” Buni further noted that “happily, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has embarked on well- thought economic agendas, policy actions, appropriate fiscal, governance, and socio-political reforms to revamp the economy and tackle the nation’s current challenges in the short to long term.

“Under the new flexible foreign exchange policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in June 2016, we now have a single market-determined exchange rate which enables suppliers of foreign currencies to bring in their money and take the same out at market-determined rates. The new foreign exchange  policy being implemented will ensure our economy recovers in the medium to long term.

“As contained in the assented 2016 National Budget, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is aggressively formulating and implementing policies aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economy from oil to other sectors such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing. “The administration is also proactively tackling increased attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta region which has led to disruptions in crude production.

“The President’s shuttle diplomacy has yielded positive effects on the country’s economic policies. As a result, several agreements concluded during the visits are positively impacting on key sectors of the Nigerian economy including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation. “The fight against corruption remains a top priority for the President Buhari APC-led administration.

In spite of desperate attempts by some partisans to discredit anti-corruption efforts in some quarters, the war against corruption is being won and has been well-received and supported. The generality of Nigerians agree that the days of impunity are over.

“Through the full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the President Muhammadu Buhari APC-led administration, revenue leakages have been greatly plugged.

“The new petroleum products supply and pricing framework which eliminated corruption- tainted subsidy payments has among others greatly solved fuel scarcities by ensuring availability of products at all locations in the country; reduced hoarding, smuggling and diversion substantially and stabilise price at the actual product price; encouraged investments in both Refineries and Retails; provided Government more revenue to address social and infrastructural needs of the country.

“In line with the critical infrastructural focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, an unprecedented 30 per cent of 2016 budgetary provision has been committed to capital projects.

“As the administration works assiduously to build a new solid foundation, credible image and pull the country out of the present hardships, the APC appeals for patience and cooperation from Nigerians.” As the economic situation continues to deteriorate, many Nigerians appear not interested in the political angle of recession and the blame game between the APC and PDP, but their concern is to see the economy rebound.