In reaction to a story that was published by a leading online news medium, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has denied saying that the economy had spiralled out of the control of President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to a report by THISDAY Live, the online arm of the media empire, quoting an interview the minister had with FRCN Radio Link, Mohammed had said in reaction to a question about the economy: “…The only way out is what the government is doing, which is strengthening the economy, diversifying it, plugging all the loopholes and making sure that only the essential things are imported. It will be extremely difficult, no doubt, but we are also in a state of emergency economically. You see, take for instance, your earnings reduced from N100 to N30 per month, something will have to give way…like relocating to a smaller house and I mean this is a reality.
“The fact that the government is even still managing this situation, I give credit to the government, because the situation is completely beyond their control, and this is where people have been mischievous…”
The report, published on Saturday, March 12, was run with the headline: “Economy Gone Out of Buhari’s Control, Says Lai Mohammed”.
However, in a statement through Segun Adeyemi, the Special Assistant on Information and Culture to the minister, Mohammed had described the report as a “complete misrepresentation” of what he said during the interview.
Adeyemi, through the statement, said: “It is pertinent to state that at no time during the entire two-hour (radio) programme did the Honourable Minister say or suggest that the economy has gone out of the President’s control.
“Honourable Minister’s comments on the economy during the programme goes thus: “Again, we have not been very fortunate with our economy in the sense that we came in at a time when there is global collapse in the prices of commodities ranging from oil.
“Unfortunately for us, we have inherited an economy where the mainstay of the economy, crude oil, crashed from an all high of $100 to about $30 and that of course means that automatically the source of our foreign exchange was affected. 80 percent of our foreign
exchange used to come from crude. Today we have lost 70 percent of that amount so that is the major reason.”
“While indeed this Administration inherited a disastrous economy, it has decided to turn the disaster into blessing by diversifying the economy away from oil, thus widening its base and weaning the country of its addiction to oil.”