The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has admitted severe hunger and hardship in the country which he attributed to the policies of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Akpabio spoke in Koroma, Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State on Sunday, saying the current administration of President Bola Tinubu met the Nigerian economy in a mess which he attributed to Emefiele.
Emefiele who was removed from office in June is currently battling to escape jail terms over financial crimes allegations ranging from using proxies to buy banks, to stealing and forgery of the president’s signature to steal $6.23 million from the apex bank. On January 18, the Federal Government amended the criminal charges filed against the former CBN governor. The government increased the charges from six counts to 20 counts. In the amendment, Emefiele was charged with alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.
“So, the kind of debt and economic mess that we are in, a lot of people will not understand but I remember President Obama saying that you cannot know Washington until you get to Washington”, stated the Senate President.
“So, by the time we went in to look at the country’s economic situation, it was terrible. We did not even know what to charge him with. Whether to charge him for putting foam on top of the bill, to charge him for illegal possession of a firearm or to charge him for printing notes without income, I don’t know what we are going to charge him with, said Akpabio.
“But what we can say is that there is hunger today because of the policies and actions that they took, and we recognise that, and I think every political party should recognise that there is hunger, and we are battling to ensure that Nigerians sleep with their eyes closed,” Akpabio said.
Assuring that the government is making efforts to end insecurity and ensure that Nigerians feed well, the former Akwa Ibom State governor appealed to Nigerians to be patient as the rot over 60 years cannot be solved in six months.
“Yes, there is insecurity, we are battling to ensure that Nigerians can take three square meals a day. But be rest assured that we campaigned for this job, we campaigned around the country, we will not let you down, we will get to the bottom of it, all we need is your patience.
“That rots that have happened in Nigeria for so many years for almost 60 years cannot be solved in six months,” he said.
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