Professor Charles Soludo, Anambra State Governor, has highlighted the dire state of the economy inherited by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, characterizing it as moribund during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today program.
Speaking on the economic challenges faced by the government, Soludo stated, “This economy inherited a dead economy. From a macroeconomic point of view, this government inherited a dead horse that was still standing and people didn’t know it was dead.”
Acknowledging the complexity of addressing these challenges, he underscored the enormity of the task ahead, positing, “Because you can’t pour water on a rock and not expect the rock not to be wet, there are humungous challenges and I think it is important that Nigerians understand this and it is not a tea party.”
While reflecting on his tenure as the head of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between 2004 and 2009, Soludo accused the CBN of unauthorized money printing.
He highlighted the irregularities in monetary policies during former President Mohammed Buhari’s regime, stating, “We sat here in this country and saw the monetary authorities literally printing money, illegally I must say, because I superintended the development of drafting the 2007 Bank Act.”
Soludo also stressed the importance of adhering to the regulations outlined in the 2007 CBN Act, particularly the clause that restricts the Central Bank from excessively lending to the Federal Government beyond a stipulated percentage of the previous year’s actual revenue.
The former CBN Governor further expressed his disappointment with the apex bank, pointing out that the CBN failed to comply with this regulation and criticized the continuous printing of money that escalated the government’s account balance.
He remarked, “When you continue to credit the account of government, one trillion people shouted, two trillion, 10 trillion, 15 trillion, and 20 trillion, and we kept going.”
