Afenifere dismisses presidency claim of economic turnaround

…says it is simply a media spin.

The Pan Nigerian socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has said that it is not successful statement with the Presidency’s caller assertion connected economical turnaround, noting that specified an assertion is conscionable a media spin.

In a property connection from Afenifere to the media signed by its leader, HRH Oba Oladipo Olaitan, and the National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye, the radical dismissed the claim, saying it is simply a distortion of world connected the ground.

Afenifere mentioned the assertion which was contained successful the President’s October 1 Independence Day speech, successful summation to the economical reappraisal by immoderate experts which indicated otherwise, but maintained that specified a assertion is challengeable.

The radical said the assertion that the system has stabilised is simply a euphemism, noting that the concern has reached stone bottommost aft being pushed disconnected the cliff with subsidy removal and devaluation policies.

It stated: “When a $10 cardinal subsidy with $200 cardinal accumulation multiplier effects is removed, erstwhile the system falls by $200 billion, it would halt falling. Now that the GDP has fallen implicit 50% from $477.8 cardinal successful 2022 to present $187.8 billion, we are being told connected Independence Day to observe a 4.23% growth.

Afenifere queried what could person happened to the implicit 7 cardinal businesses that collapsed and others pushed into poverty, asking if they are conscionable collateral harm of self-induced economical destabilisation mislabelled arsenic economical reforms.

“The autumn of existent wages by 300% makes claims of an economical turnaround unfounded. While a prime fewer elites mightiness instrumentality vantage of the devaluation, the mean Nigerian worker’s purchasing powerfulness has been wiped retired by devaluation and inflation, and until the bulk get their wages adjusted, determination tin beryllium nary turnaround.

“The administration’s summation successful minimum wage to N70,000 benefited little than 5% of workers. The Nigerian idiosyncratic has been economically reformed to enslaved wages, with adjacent those astatine the pinnacle of academia and the equipped forces paid peanuts. A prof is paid little than unemployed persons successful Europe and the Americas, portion the basal wages of service generals conscionable astir adjacent the magnitude paid to unemployed people,” Afenifere stated.

In addition, Afenifere besides faulted the overseas reserves claim, calling it a nett summation successful debt. “The President reported a little than $10 cardinal summation of the mean $35 cardinal overseas reserves to $42 cardinal but omitted the information that our overseas indebtedness had accrued from 2022/2023 levels.

“The recognition of becoming nett exporters with a amended equilibrium of payments is not tied to this administration’s subsidy removals and devaluation butto erstwhile governments’ backing of the Dangote Refinery, whose cognition has present drastically reduced the importation of petrol products that accounted for 30% of our import measure and present exports petrol. But nevertheless, we invited President Tinubu’s administration’s absorption connected accrued non-oil exports,” it added.

The radical besides talked astir expanding the taxation burden, noting that the Tinubu medication boasts of expanding the tax-to-GDP ratio by 3.5% of a GDP that fell from $477.8 cardinal successful 2022 to present $187.8 billion, which, according to them, is ridiculous.

Afenifere said that the authorities should desist from expanding the taxation load connected Nigerians already economically strangled with its economical policies.

“This is not the clip to reinstate the substance taxation that was initially instituted successful 2007 but shelved owed to its predicted antagonistic effect connected our economy, which was respective times successful a amended authorities than now. With an income taxation minimum threshold of N800,000 per annum, which is little than the N840,000 minimum wage per annum, everyone volition beryllium paying much taxes, particularly the indirect taxes of substance tax, slope charges, telecoms, etc. We implore the authorities to fto the mediocre breathe.

“The authorities is successful powerfulness to service the people, not the dictates of section and planetary fiscal institutions, whose trickle-down economics is based connected th...