» Former Minister Faults Buhari On Empty Treasury, Says Jonathan Left About $30bn «

ABUJA – THE immediate past Minister/
Deputy Chairman National Planning
Commission (NPC) Dr. Abubakar
Olanrewaju Sulaiman, Tuesday faulted
claims by President Muhammadu Buhari
that his administration met an empty
treasury.
Suleiman said the former administration as
at May 29 left behind the sum of US$
2billion, adding that the sum would have
been higher if not the governors insistence
on sharing the fund.
He warned that the former President, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan must not be criminalized
and painted a plunderer and looter of the
nation’s treasury before the generality of
Nigerians.
The clarification was in response to the
President’s statement during an interactive
session with journalists in Abuja, where he
was quoted to have said that his
government met “virtually an empty
treasury.”
President Buhari reportedly said that it was
adding a disgrace that Nigeria cannot pay
salaries of its workforce.
Expressing his dismay over the President’s
statement, Sulaiman in a statement in Abuja
described the report as “unscientific and
unfair”, stressing that the immediate past
administration “left behind close to US$
30billion.”
He said, “Government can’t tell us that there
is no Excess Crude Account(ECA), Sovereign
Wealth Fund(SWF) or are we saying the
Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIR) and
related agencies had not in the last one
month been generating revenue?
“Until they are able to prove they had no
receipts from these government agencies in
the last one month before Nigerians can
now buy into Mr. President’s claims of an
empty treasury.”
He recalled that under the Jonathan’s
administration,Nigeria was rated the largest
economy in Africa and 26th largest in the
world, querying how come such a
government would leave behind an empty
treasury.
He said”Money made by government is
meant to be spent, and this the immediate
past administration did responsibly. Every
government, even in the so-called western
world, including the US which today
remains one of the largest debtor nations in
the world, government operates on deficit.
“Is it not on record that President Obama
inherited US$3 triillion debt, a collapsed
banking sector and mortgage industry,yet
he never raised any alarm. None of these
has happened in Nigeria under Jonathan.
“Under Jonathan,Nigeria became the largest
Africa economy and 26th in the world
amidst deadly security challenges and
dwindling international prices of oil. In spite
of all these, the FG never owed salary.
“Upon inception of Jonatha’s administration,
it is on record that the price of oil at the
global stage was over 100 dollars per barrel
and at the close of the administration, it
dropped to 46dollars. Yet, there wasn’t
collapse of government and federal civil
servants were paid as at when due.
“It will be misleading therefore for our
respected President Muhammadu Buhari
and indeed the ruling APC to claim to have
met an empty treasury.”
He further reminded the new government
that “aspiration to governance is a call of
meeting and confronting challenges
headlong. So, we urge the APC-led
government to hit the ground running as
promised Nigerians by confronting the
challenges.
“We are not in doubt of the capability of Mr.
President to do it. He should therefore get to
business, put in place structures and
personnel to redeem the pledges made to
the Nigeria.”