Blame Buhari, Emefiele for nationwide hunger; we didn’t know things were this bad: Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has asserted that current lawmakers are now beginning to understand the full extent of the economic damage done by former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Central Bank governor Godwin Emefiele, whose policies left the country indebted and its people living in extreme poverty.

Speaking at a thanksgiving service on Sunday covered by Channels TV, Mr Akpabio acknowledged that “there is hunger today because of the policies and actions that they (Messrs Buhari and Emefiele) took.”

In spite of the fact that some lawmakers, such as former Senate President Ahmad Lawan and former speaker and current chief of staff of President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, were part of the previous assembly that approved the large loans that Mr. Buhari took from foreign countries without holding them accountable if the debts accumulated served their intended purposes, the Senate president’s statement absolved the lawmakers of blame.

“A lot of people will not understand the kind of debt and economic mess that we are in, but I remember (former) President Obama saying that you cannot know Washington until you get to Washington,” Mr. Akpabio remarked during a Sunday service in Koroma, Tai Local Government in Rivers State, where he accepted his colleague Senator Barinada Mpigi’s invitation to a thanksgiving.

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“It was awful by the time we arrived to examine the nation’s economic status,” he continued.

Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that, since President Bola Tinubu took office, there has been an unprecedented rise in poverty, banditry, kidnapping, and robbery. The 10th Assembly legislators took office in May and June of 2023.

Even yet, Mr. Akpabio begged for more time, stating that eight months was insufficient to bring about a change and repair the harm caused by Messrs. Buhari and Emefiele’s policies.

He claims that because Mr. Emefiele’s measures were so ineffective, the government is unsure of which exact accusation to press against him.

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The president of the 10th Assembly revealed, “You know that we did not even know what to charge him with,” regarding the former governor of the central bank.

He clarified that the government security personnel were still deliberating on whether to pursue Mr. Emefiele for illegally owning a gun or for altering the naira.

The former governor of Akwa-Ibom remarked, “I do not know what we are going to charge him with—whether it be for putting foam on top of the bill, unlawful firearm ownership, or producing notes without income.”