“Current economic recession will not last until 2020” - Yemi Osinbajo

Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, had on Tuesday, expressed displeasure with the current state of Nigeria’s economy, saying recession may continue until 2020, if President Muhammadu Buhari failed to review some of his policies.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, dismissed insinuations by a former President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba that Nigeria’s current economic recession will last until 2020.

But the Vice President while addressing reporters in Ede, Osun State, stated that the recession will not last long because the administration was putting in place measures that will resuscitate the economy.

Osinbajo, however, attributed the recession to the destruction of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

According to Osinbajo, the destruction had resulted in the reduction of crude oil being sold by the country.

He said, “As far as we are concerned and so far as all of us who are working seriously hard are concerned, the recession must be short-lived.

“The reason is that as of February last year, we were generating 5,000 megawatts of power and that was the highest ever in the history of this country and that same month the vandalism of the pipelines started. So, we lost 60 per cent of gas and 60 per cent of revenue.

“There is nowhere in the world, there is no economy in the world that can lose 60 per cent of its revenue and will not go into some sort of recession which is actually what has happened to us in this country.

“Once we are able to resolve these issues concerning pipeline vandalism and the diversification of the economy we are working towards, things will change for the better.

“We are working towards regaining our products locally. We are investing more in refineries and private investors are coming into refineries as well. If we are able to do this, 70 per cent of what we import will not be imported again, hence our foreign reserves will be maintained and if it is maintained, our currency will improve.

“I don’t think that life will be bleak because what our country is known for is resilience and people that are extremely hardworking, optimistic and hopeful.

“We have all it takes to be a great country. I am quite convinced that the problems we are seeing today will quickly disappear as long as we understand why we are where we are today.”