Kaduna (Nigeria) – Governor of Nigeria’s Central bank Godwin Emefele, has said that Nigeria spent 1.5 billion dollars monthly on Importation of petroleum products, raw materials, food items such as rice, wheat, sugar, fish and other services.
Emefele made this known at the Northern Stakeholders Town Hall Engagement seminar organized by CITAR (a Non Governmental Organization) in Kaduna, with the theme, ‘responding to Realities’, an advocacy on public participation in changing the face of Nigerian Economy.
Represented by the Kaduna state CBN controller, Ibrahim Mohammed Gusau, he said the drop in global oil price and the huge amount of money spent in importing petroleum products and other goods into the country have affected the nation’s economy that some states were unable to meet up with some basic recurrent expenditure including payment of workers’ salaries.
According to him, in 2014, the Central Bank of Nigeria received monthly inflows of $3bn dollars and with the decline in crude oil price it now receives $500 million monthly.
He noted that, Nigeria wouldn’t have been experiencing the challenges it is facing if government had continued with the policies of past leaders.
In a remark, Nigeria’s senate president Bokula Seraki who was represented by Senator Aliyu Wamako said the National Assembly is playing its part in ensuring that Nigeria gets out of the present Economy recession and improve on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Also speaking, former Head of state General Yakubu Gowon, said the fight against corruption is a fight that all Nigerians must join hands together win decisively. He said for Nigeria’s economy to strive and come back to its feet, there is need for continuity in the development plan, adding that over dependent on oil and corruption are the main factors which have made good governance impossible in the country.
Participants at the seminar were Northern elders and stakeholder of the nation’s economy.
