Sanusi II Criticizes Buhari’s Economic Framework

The Emir of Kano and former governor of Nigeria's central bank, Muhammadu Sanusi, Thursday described the country's current economic model as impracticable, panning the government's excessive spending on debt servicing.

The Guardian Nigeria report continues:

Sanusi, a keynote speaker at the second edition of the Kaduna State Investment Summit, said the government erred by earmarking only 34 percent of its revenue for capital and recurrent expenditures.

He said: “The Federal Government of Nigeria is spending 66 percent of its revenues on interests on debts, which means only 34 percent of revenue is available for capital and recurrent expenditures.

“That model cannot work. If you look at the 2017 budget of the Federal Government, I sometimes wonder what Nigerian economists are doing? In the 2017 budget presented by the Federal Government, the amount earmarked for debt servicing is in excess of the entire non-oil revenue of the Federal Government, but that is not the problem. The problem is that it is a budget that is even going for more debts.”

Economic growth, Sanusi said, could only come from government's investment in the economy. But he was downbeat on the possibility of the federal and state governments being able to grow the economy owing to unsustainable borrowing patterns.

“We have governors; they go to China and spend one month on a tour and what do they come back with, MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on debts,” he continued.

“China will lend you US$1.8bn to build light rail. This light rail will be done by the rail workers from China. The trains will come from China. The engines will come from China. The labour comes from China. The driver is Chinese.

“At the end of the day, what do you benefit from it? Your citizens will ride on a train and when you ride on a train, in northern Nigeria, in a state like Kano or Katsina, where are you going to? You are not going to an industrial estate to work. You are not going to school? You are not going to the farm. You borrow money from China to invest in trains so that your citizens can ride on them and go for weddings and naming ceremonies.”

Sultan, Sanusi Advise FG On Economic Growth

Daily Trust reports that the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad III has urged political leaders to focus more on governance than politics. 

Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, faulted the economic policy of the Federal Government, saying a situation where the country planned to spend 66 percent of its budget on servicing debt forestalled the chance of economic growth. 

The Sultan and Emir spoke at the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit which held at the Murtala Square in Kaduna.

The Sultan in a goodwill message said despite the poor condition of roads and lack of basic infrastructure, some governors were constructing airports and embarking on other projects that had no use for the people. 

He said, “I have always talked about programmes that will touch the lives of the common man in the village, on the streets pushing trucks, carrying water to sell to survive. We want programmes that will touch the lives of these people, not programmes that will touch lives of the elites alone.”

Speaking along the same lines, the Emir of Kano urged the government on investments and prudent actions, saying economic growth could only come from investments and not  from consumption or poorly thought out projects. ‎

‎He said, “We have governors, they go to China. Spend one month on a tour of China and what do they come back with? MoU for debts.‎ China will lend you US$1.8 billion dollars to build light rail, the rail will come from China, the trains will come from China, the engines, the labour the driver will come from China. What do you benefit from it?”

President Muhammadu Buhari said in a goodwill message that he led a government committed to creation of a prosperous economy for Nigeria, adding that his administration would continue to support private sector to provide the investment to drive the economic growth.

In his own message to the occasion, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said Kaduna State realized highest ever Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of over ₦18 billion in 2016 due to its investment promotion moves.