Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has continued the blame game of the Buhari government by saying that militants in the Niger Delta region for the economic recession.
Osinbajo, who was speaking in Abuja on Monday September 19, 2016 during the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum, stated that militancy in the region has had a negative impact on the economy and the 2016 budget much more than the drop in oil price.
The vice president lamented that the attacks on oil and gas installations in the region has caused a decline in the production of oil, which is now below 1.1 million barrels per day.
“If we did not have vandalism in the Niger Delta as we are currently suffering, we would not have this recession today,” the law professor said.
Osinbajo asked that the federal government be cut some slack as it was not responsible for the recession and is taking steps to restore the economy as well as improve the power situation in the country.
“We’re doing a whole lot by interfacing with the private sector because we realize their role in the economy. If the Dangote refinery comes on stream, it would help us overcome some of those challenges, like the sub-sea gas pipelines, it would take care of vandalism,” he maintained.
“I think the more important thing is how to clean up the mess in the power sector, especially infrastructure. In the short term, we’ll try to bring up power to an appreciable level to help the manufacturing sector.”
