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Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:00pm On Jan 02, 2011
http://www.worldstagegroup.com/worldstage/index.php?&id=1569&active=news

[size=18pt]Atiku writes Jonathan, describes 2011 budget as recipe for disaster[/size]


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Abuja (WorldStage Newsonline)-- Former Vice President and presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has written President Goodlcuk Jonathan, warning that the economy is going broke and that the proposed 2011 budget by can only worsening state of things.
A statement from his campaign organization on Sunday said that Atiku personally sent an 11-page letter to President Jonathan where he lamented that the budget predicated on consumption without corresponding investments in critical infrastructure was a recipe for economic disaster.

“At a time of unprecedented oil boom, you have presented Nigeria with a budget of consumption for consumption; a budget of debt accumulation to imperil the future; a budget that is rich in rhetoric and pedestrian initiatives but lacking in any bold step to lay the foundation for Nigeria’s next 50 years or even 20 years,” Atiku said.

He warned that excessive borrowings that marked the Jonathan administration as indicated in the budget was in negation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, “has the potentials of returning Nigeria to a regime of debt overhang and making nonsense all the gains of the negotiated cancellation of the nation’s debts.

“I almost wept for Nigeria after reading your 2011 budget, which is your first budget as President of Nigeria. In simple terms, it signals your vision for Nigeria and how you intend to govern. For effect, you proudly announced that this is the first budget of the National Implementation Plan (NIP) for Vision 20:20:20. The rest of the world must be laughing at us. For a summary, you proposed a total expenditure of N4.22 trillion to be financed by a revenue estimate of N2.83 trillion, leaving a total deficit (new borrowing) of N1.4 trillion.

“Mr. President, you plan to borrow 33% of the entire budget, or 3.62% of GDP which is higher than the 3% stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Your total debt service is N542 billion (which is higher than your total capital spending on power, roads, health and education put together). Your total recurrent expenditure (including debt service) is N3.023 trillion, meaning that with a revenue of N2.83 trillion, your government plans to borrow money to finance recurrent expenditure even if capital budget is zero.

“Your recurrent budget is 107% of total revenue. Put differently, your capital budget is N1 trillion whereas your deficit or planned borrowing is N1.4 trillion, meaning that even with a zero capital budget you plan to borrow about N400 billion to add to revenue to finance CONSUMPTION. Mr. President, no one needs to be an economist to appreciate that this is a disaster,” Atiku wrote.

He said that it was unacceptable for the government to have recourse to borrowing the entire capital budget at a time of increasing revenue from oil.

“Mr. President, let me draw your attention to the simple meaning of your budget: not one kobo of our oil revenue (at a time of oil boom) is being spent on power and infrastructure. Rather, you plan to spend the entire oil revenue on consumption, and even borrow to consume. Every Kobo of capital budget is to be borrowed. If you continue to borrow at the average interest rate of 14% by the 2012 budget, your borrowing in 2011 will add another N196 billion to debt service payment (and hence by 2012 debt service might be in excess of N738 billion),” he said.

“At the rate you are going, by 2015, debt service payment will be in excess of N1 trillion. If oil price drops below $50, it is evident that government will not be able to service its debt without austerity measures. Is this what you plan for this country?” Atiku said.

He noted that the N1trillion capital budget as provided for in Budget 2011 was the lowest in real terms when compared with others in the last seven years.

“Your capital budget of N1 trillion (to be borrowed) is the lowest in real terms in the last seven years! Compare the capital spending in the years when the exchange rate was about N120 to a dollar and inflation in the single digit to your N1 trillion with exchange at N150 and inflation at 14%. Your actual performance on capital budget implementation is about 55% for 2010. If you maintain that, or even if you reach 70% implementation in 2011, your capital spending will just be a few hundred billions in real terms,” he wrote.

“Again, Mr. President, the fact that this is your first budget in the implementation of Vision 20:20:20 is proof that with your government, Vision 20:20:20 is just an empty slogan. A simple back–of–the envelope calculation would show that given the level of private sector and state government investment, the federal government would need to invest at least N3 trillion per annum to have a chance of reaching vision 2020. In your first year of implementation, your capital budget (borrowed) is just one third of that amount. Consider, the fact that even this N1 trillion will not be fully disbursed. If your current record is a guide, then barely 50% of the capital budget will be implemented (or 16% of what is needed for Vision 2020). Please, Mr. President, come clean with Nigerians!”

Atiku said his own articulated plan to restore the nation’s public finance to a path of sustainability is to spend at least 40% of current on capital budget compared to Jonathan’s zero on capital.

“I have put out a plan to restore our public finance to a path of sustainability. Our target is to spend at least 40% of current revenue on capital budget (compared to your government that spends zero on capital). Over the medium term of four years, our agenda is to constrain recurrent expenditure to be fully funded by non–oil revenue while devoting every kobo of oil revenue to capital spending on infrastructure, power, health and education. In other words, oil is a depleting, exhaustible resource, and we must use it to build capacity for the future. We should avoid borrowing but if we must borrow at all, it has to be under stringent conditions. We should borrow only for bankable capital projects whereby the projects must generate the revenues to pay back the loan,” he said.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:01pm On Jan 02, 2011
Atiku has run the best issue oriented insurgent campaign I have seen in the history of this country.

Jonathan don't know what he is doing. Nigerians please let us reject Jonathan or we will be doomed.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:02pm On Jan 02, 2011
Very high on specifics!!!!!!
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by evilspirit: 7:05pm On Jan 02, 2011
all you said doesnt prove you be better
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by evilspirit: 7:06pm On Jan 02, 2011
atiku is corrupt and represent the old generation.@op explain where a Common custom officer got 50billion naira
worth of asset
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:07pm On Jan 02, 2011
This is the economic debate I have been asking for. Thank God atiku has been keeping this campaign process honest.

But it would have been nice if this whole debate was live on TV. That way we will know if Atiku is as brilliant as he sounds these days and if Jonathan can think on his feet on any issue whatsoever.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by BigB11(m): 7:08pm On Jan 02, 2011
You can't blame Jonathan: more than anyone else this dude completely understands his capabilities, he never wanted to contest for this position. He was pushed into it by the obvious.
It is impossible to ask a chicken to give birth to a lion, therefore, it is unfair to expect much from the man.

For the love of God, Dr. uncle Jonathan should do us and our future a favor and step down. Nigeria at this point is extremely complicated and a smart and completely competent leader is required to take over this nation.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:11pm On Jan 02, 2011
evilspirit:

atiku is corrupt and represent the old generation."op explain where a Common custom officer got 50naira
worth of asset

Why not cut the crap and stick to the issues. We heard all that noise and the corrupt past of whether Atiku or Jonathan has not stopped them from running for President.

It seems to me you guys drop all these crap as substitute for lack of ideas.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by rebranded(m): 7:13pm On Jan 02, 2011
If PDP is fair, im sure Atiku will get the party ticket

I'm actually worried about Aganga tho, thanks Atiku for breaking down the budget. .this is scary if true

GEJ just keeps trying to deceive all he is the best thing thats happened to Nigeria, while his administration has embarked on wasteful spending with nothing to show, and increased insecurity, along with incurring more debt for the future of the country
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by evilspirit: 7:14pm On Jan 02, 2011
Nigeria is doomed if Atiku becomes the president
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by evilspirit: 7:18pm On Jan 02, 2011
GEJ is the president.Atiku should stop running his mouth.anybody can analyze the budget and name blames.this is like the game of chess-when you are spectator,you see the players mistakes but when in,you look clueless sometimes.I'm sorry for all of you.Atiku will become a lifetime president if elected
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Obiagu1(m): 7:24pm On Jan 02, 2011
evilspirit:

Nigeria is doomed if Atiku becomes the president

Why will Nigeria be doomed? Can't you read? Does that budget make sense to you?
It's people like you that put us in this mess we're in.

Where has the reserve built up by OBJ/Atiku government gone to?

This is absolutely ridiculous!  angry
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:35pm On Jan 02, 2011
You guys do realise that Atiku did not write the piece up himself.
That piece has Soludo or his variant written over it.

In a debate he may struggle to regurgitate half of it.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by BigB11(m): 7:36pm On Jan 02, 2011
If Nigeria was an airplane, would you allow an inexperienced confused (Jonathan) pilot to fly your plane?
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by dayokanu(m): 7:38pm On Jan 02, 2011
Is the country not doomed under GEJ 3 different bomb blast in 7 days what could be worse independence day bombing still unresolved
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:42pm On Jan 02, 2011
culled from Vanguard

[size=18pt]Excessive spending, not naira stability, is depleting the reserves – Razia Khan[/size]


Finance Jan 2, 2011 The continued stability of the naira in the face of declining foreign reserves generated apprehension among foreign exchange operators, who faulted the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to defend the naira at the expense of the reserves. Razia Khan, an Economist with Standard Chartered Bank however thinks differently.


Razia Khan
In an email exchange with Babajide Komolafe, Ag. Finance Editor, Vanguard, Khan, the Regional Head of Research, Africa, Global Research at Standard Chartered Bank, argues that the fall in reserves is not due to the apex bank’s decision to defend the naira but the excessive spending by the three arms of government.

In your view does the current exchange rate reflect the reality of the external reserves?

The current exchange rate – whether we are looking at the CBN rate or the interbank rate – more or less reflects market forces, so yes – it does reflect the ‘reality’ of external reserves. There is no huge parallel market for wholesale buyers of foreign exchange, so one cannot argue that the current exchange rate is in any way inconsistent with economic reality.

Do you agree that the CBN has been running down the reserves to defend the naira?

No. This seems to be a highly-flawed interpretation of recent events. Foreign reserves are not higher because Nigeria has not been accumulating foreign reserves as rapidly in the past. There isn’t sufficient evidence of a consistent, sustained spike in demand for foreign exchange that would suggest that reserves have fallen only because the CBN has been supporting a steady naira policy.

With oil production at its most favourable level since 2006, and with oil prices back above $90 per barrel, the issue is why reserves have not risen further, not why they have ‘fallen’.

Every time a disbursement was made from the excess crude account to the three tiers of government, the Foreign exchange component would have been whittled down. This suggests that Nigeria ’s problems have more to do with excessive spending, than any attempt to maintain foreign exchange stability.

Let us not forget that with the US and other major economies printing money (implementing quantitative easing) to stimulate their economies, the US dollar and other major currencies have depreciated against many emerging market economies with strong growth prospects, where comfortable current account surpluses are in place.

So the question really needs to be, why is Nigeria the exception to this general rule? The reasons have little to do with CBN’s foreign exchange – the root causes run deeper than that.

Do you believe that a depreciation of the naira could have prevented the decline in reserves or further decline?
This is exactly the point! Even if the CBN had allowed the naira to weaken, there is no evidence that foreign reserves would have been higher. The pressure has not stemmed from an attempt to prop up the naira at an artificial level. The pressure on reserves did not arise only from the strength of foreign exchange demand against a backdrop of subdued economic growth.

If the CBN had restricted foreign exchange sales, the dollar-naira exchange rate might be 180, maybe even higher as overshooting would have been a risk, but the extent of government spending, the failure to replenish reserves, and the withdrawals from the excess crude account (ECA) would all have meant lower foreign exchange reserves regardless.

Let’s not forget that under ‘normal’ circumstances, the CBN typically only supplies around a third, or slightly less, of the foreign exchange that is available to the market. If reserves are lower, it cannot be because of CBN policy.

If the CBN had not defended the naira , panic would have set in, demand for foreign exchange would have soared, the panic would have become self –fulfilling and Nigeria might have ended up with even lower reserves than it has now…but maybe with a dollar-naira rate between 180 – 200. Do not take stability for granted. It counts for a lot more than most people realize.

In your view is there any justifiable reason for the defence of the naira in the face of declining reserves?

Yes, if one takes the view that one of the most serious economic threats facing the Nigerian economy as a result of excessive spending is higher inflation, allowing the currency to strengthen or at least remain stable against a weakening US dollar (to put it more accurately) reflects the best chance that Nigeria has of preventing imported inflation. Inflation is the most regressive tax – it hits the poor hardest.

The CBN has a mandate to deliver not only growth, but also price stability to the Nigerian economy. By keeping the foreign exchange rate stable, they are merely acting in accordance with their mandate.

If the CBN has been defending the naira, how far do think they can do so if the reserves continue to fall?
In recent trading sessions, where demand has been excessive, the CBN has allowed the naira to weaken gradually.

Let’s not forget that the naira still trades quite far from the top-end of its +/-3% band around 150, so there is still room – within the current foreign exchange policy framework – to allow it to adjust gradually to the current pressure on reserves. If reserves keep being depleted, the CBN could change the mid point of its preferred band – the important thing, to prevent expectations of depreciation becoming self-fulfilling, is to remain in control of the situation.

There would be little to gain in suggesting that the naira could depreciate dramatically – panic would ensue, foreign exchange reserves would fall further, the naira would come under speculative pressure, and nothing in Nigeria ’s real economy would change for the better. Competitiveness is not about the exchange rate, it’s about the dire state of infrastructure.

What would be the implications for the economy if the CBN continue to defend the naira in the face of declining reserves?

If they succeed in keeping inflation under control, then the Real Equilibrum Exchange Rate (REER) appreciation of the NGN would be contained. Eventually, the hope is, that with Nigeria ’s comfortable current account surplus, reserves accumulation would resume. As I said earlier, the question is NOT why the CBN have run down reserves to meet demand.

The question is why reserves have not been rising even faster than this, allowing the CBN to react to greater demand for foreign exchange. The answer is probably excessive spending, resulting in pressure on reserves.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Obiagu1(m): 7:47pm On Jan 02, 2011
OMO IBO:

You guys do realise that Atiku did not write the piece up himself.
That piece has Soludo or his variant written over it.

In a debate he may struggle to regurgitate half of it.

Whether Soludo has a hand in it or not does not matter, afterall Obama almost got vast in economics during his campaign because he listened to his economic advisers.

Where is GEJ's advisers and who wrote that crap called budget that will help widen our recurrent expenditure over capital expenditure in the nearest future? They are all dunce, dunce, dunce  grin
Maybe it's deep rooted than I thought, an orchestrated looting galore.

Don’t forget that OBJ/Atiku government left reserves for us, now we are borrowing to the extent of 33% of our budget in less than 4 yrs of Ya’dua/GEJ -  GEJ/Sambo government, crazy!
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 7:49pm On Jan 02, 2011
OMO IBO:

You guys do realise that Atiku did not write the piece up himself.
That piece has Soludo or his variant written over it.

In a debate he may struggle to regurgitate half of it.

It is obvious that the in-depth analysis would have had Soludo's input as he is part of the Atiku campaign. But Atiku takes the credit because he is the face of the campaign.

Why can't Jonathan have sound policies eventhough he is in Govt? why can't he assemble the right team?

Atiku's operation and how he runs his campaign tells you the guy is ready for Government from day one.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Obiagu1(m): 8:11pm On Jan 02, 2011
This is less than 4 yrs after OBJ/Atiku left office and we’re borrowing 33%, by the time GEJ/Sambo leaves office in 2015 if they win, we’ll be borrowing 80% of our budget. Our children will then be taxed up to 60% of their income to pay off the debt while their children will be living comfortably in the western world with the looted fund completely secured in foreign banks.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by violent(m): 8:44pm On Jan 02, 2011
Time to change your Naira to Euro fellas, otherwise, In 10 months time, your 1 million naira deposit in the bank will only be good enough to buy yoghurt!
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by koruji(m): 8:47pm On Jan 02, 2011
Atiku/Soludo were arrow-heads of the OBJ administration under which recurrent expenditures ballooned. The damaging effects were hidden away because oil money was flowing at the speed of light. They lent the funds to their friends who took it to Dubai, and so on. . . Like a tumor fed by a large artery, they laid huge pipes to siphon Nigeria's oil earnings by crooked means.

The oil price collapsed, revenues dwindled, but how do you cut off recurrent expenditures without destroying the economy? You can't. You don't. You are forced to both cut back a little and borrow a lot.

In the same shoes the Atiku/Soludo combination would be doing worse than the GEJ/Aganga combination. Soludo sat at the central bank as the economy collapsed, unwilling to admit that the banks were failing. Atiku used mirrors to move Nigeria's money around to his and his friends benefits.

For some reason people think our condition is unique in this regard. The fact is that if you spend without saving during a period of abundance, as sure as day comes a period of want is coming, then you will have nothing to fall back on - it is a universal law. The story of the 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine in ancient Egypt is really a story about the recognition of boom/bust cycles that characterize national economies. This same scenario is what happened to the world's greatest economy - USA- from 2001-2007, and from 2008-now. The differences are:
1) The USA has a structurally sound economic foundation;
2) As the USA put in place short-term spending & borrowing to revive its economy with great difficulty, it is also putting in place fundamental restructuring in infrastructure, auto-industry, energy and education that will eventually allow production-based growth to return;
3) Corrupt people who took advantage of the system are being prosecuted. New laws are being written, etc.

In Nigeria's case, the foundations of our economy are weak or non-existent so we need not just fundamental restructuring, we need new foundations for growth in all the above areas. Currently, our economy doesn't produce much - we take oil from the ground and sell it using foreign companies (who steal us blind by the way), but we produce nothing beyond what our farmer's grow from their day-in-day-out hard labor. Guess what, the same corrupt people that destroyed and continue to destroy our economy are the same ones running for office & pretending to have some magic wand.

It is easy for Atiku to criticize, and he may be right. The real question is WOULD HE HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY? Next time he writes, let him state WHAT SHOULD BE DONE INSTEAD to be taken seriously.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 9:04pm On Jan 02, 2011
For the record, I am not in support of Atiku, GEJ or any other presidential aspiranr.

Obiagu1 and krendo, I'm sure Sanusi and/or Aganga if asked would explain how they arrived at those figures. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Atiku is wrong with his analysis. He is vying for the top job in the land so  he is bound to poke, prod, hound and harangue his closest rival.
This is normal. It happens in the best of economies around the world. Cameron and Osborne, Clegg and Vince Cable ridiculed Gordon Brown and Alistaire Darling in the last election which Labour lost, the funny thing is,

Can I just state though, that a few weeks ago, many pple on Nairaland  supported Aganga when he slammed Atiku for chatting rubbish about Ngeria's foreign reserves.

Again, these are figures. They can be manipulated to suit an argument.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-557002.0.html
Atiku has poor knowledge of Economics - Nov 2010
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by OAM4J: 9:16pm On Jan 02, 2011
I have not read anything about the budget details but someone should please tell me the followings are not true:

1. That GEJ is  proposing a total expenditure of N4.22 trillion to be financed by a revenue estimate of N2.83 trillion, leaving a total deficit (new borrowing) of N1.4 trillion. which is equal to 33% of the entire budget and 3.62% of GDP

2. That GEJ total debt service is  N542 billion higher than the total capital spending on power, roads, health and education put together

3. That GEJ capital budget is N1 trillion while planning to  borrow N1.4 trillion - meaning that even with a zero capital budget He is planning to borrow about N400 billion to add to revenue to finance CONSUMPTION.


If these are true, I honestly have to agree with Atiku that this is a disaster waiting to happen.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 9:29pm On Jan 02, 2011
Now at least we are debating the issues.

Jonathan's economics at this stage just don't add. Those are my views anyways.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by 9ijaMan: 9:47pm On Jan 02, 2011
I hate to admit that team Atiku is making sense in comparison to team GEJ. For those contending that Soludo has a hand in the analysis, it simply shows that Atiku can make use of the good hands he has to drive home some salient points.

By the way, it's not a CBN governor who drafts the budget of the country, I guess that task lies squarely with the a particular department within the ministry of Finance. If Aganga thinks plunging Nigeria deeper into debt will be the solution, I'll keep my fingers crossed until I read a rejoinder from team GEJ on the issues Atiku has raised about the budget.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by TippyTop(m): 10:13pm On Jan 02, 2011
koruji wrote something akin to a masterpiece in my opinion. Read it without bias.

koruji:

Atiku/Soludo were arrow-heads of the OBJ administration under which recurrent expenditures ballooned. The damaging effects were hidden away because oil money was flowing at the speed of light. They lent the funds to their friends who took it to Dubai, and so on. . . Like a tumor fed by a large artery, they laid huge pipes to siphon Nigeria's oil earnings by crooked means.

The oil price collapsed, revenues dwindled, but how do you cut off recurrent expenditures without destroying the economy? You can't. You don't. You are forced to both cut back a little and borrow a lot.

In the same shoes the Atiku/Soludo combination would be doing worse than the GEJ/Aganga combination. Soludo sat at the central bank as the economy collapsed, unwilling to admit that the banks were failing. Atiku used mirrors to move Nigeria's money around to his and his friends benefits.

For some reason people think our condition is unique in this regard. The fact is that if you spend without saving during a period of abundance, as sure as day comes a period of want is coming, then you will have nothing to fall back on - it is a universal law. The story of the 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine in ancient Egypt is really a story about the recognition of boom/bust cycles that characterize national economies. This same scenario is what happened to the world's greatest economy - USA- from 2001-2007, and from 2008-now. The differences are:
1) The USA has a structurally sound economic foundation;
2) As the USA put in place short-term spending & borrowing to revive its economy with great difficulty, it is also putting in place fundamental restructuring in infrastructure, auto-industry, energy and education that will eventually allow production-based growth to return;
3) Corrupt people who took advantage of the system are being prosecuted. New laws are being written, etc.

In Nigeria's case, the foundations of our economy are weak or non-existent so we need not just fundamental restructuring, we need new foundations for growth in all the above areas. Currently, our economy doesn't produce much - we take oil from the ground and sell it using foreign companies (who steal us blind by the way), but we produce nothing beyond what our farmer's grow from their day-in-day-out hard labor. Guess what, the same corrupt people that destroyed and continue to destroy our economy are the same ones running for office & pretending to have some magic wand.

It is easy for Atiku to criticize, and he may be right. The real question is WOULD HE HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY? Next time he writes, let him state WHAT SHOULD BE DONE INSTEAD to be taken seriously.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by jamace(m): 10:19pm On Jan 02, 2011
Atiku is only a noisemaker and has no love for this country. He has been tested and he failed woefully. His shoddy, selfish and looting ability  were  exposed in his handling of BPE during OBJ tenure. Be informed also that Atiku is busy junketting his investments from US to Saudi Arabia to escape US anti-corruption agency radar. If he has vision for the development of Nigeria, why did he not invest in Nigeria but hidding his stolen wealth in foreign lands?

Kai, politics sweet o. See looter teaching us budgetting and some people are hailing him, claiming he is making sense. Na wa o shocked shocked
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Obiagu1(m): 10:29pm On Jan 02, 2011
koruji:

Atiku/Soludo were arrow-heads of the OBJ administration under which recurrent expenditures ballooned. The damaging effects were hidden away because oil money was flowing at the speed of light. They lent the funds to their friends who took it to Dubai, and so on. . . Like a tumor fed by a large artery, they laid huge pipes to siphon Nigeria's oil earnings by crooked means.

Stop lying! 
In 2007, the last budget by OBJ was N2.3 Trillion and total recurrent expenditure (non-debt) was N1.057 Trillion.
Now in 2011, the total expenditure is N4.22 trillion with 33% financed thru borrowing, the total recurrent expenditure (non-debt) is N2.481Trillion, so how does your statement add up?
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Nobody: 10:33pm On Jan 02, 2011
koruji:

Atiku/Soludo were arrow-heads of the OBJ administration under which recurrent expenditures ballooned. The damaging effects were hidden away because oil money was flowing at the speed of light. They lent the funds to their friends who took it to Dubai, and so on. . . Like a tumor fed by a large artery, they laid huge pipes to siphon Nigeria's oil earnings by crooked means.

The oil price collapsed, revenues dwindled, but how do you cut off recurrent expenditures without destroying the economy? You can't. You don't. You are forced to both cut back a little and borrow a lot.

In the same shoes the Atiku/Soludo combination would be doing worse than the GEJ/Aganga combination. Soludo sat at the central bank as the economy collapsed, unwilling to admit that the banks were failing. Atiku used mirrors to move Nigeria's money around to his and his friends benefits.

For some reason people think our condition is unique in this regard. The fact is that if you spend without saving during a period of abundance, as sure as day comes a period of want is coming, then you will have nothing to fall back on - it is a universal law. The story of the 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine in ancient Egypt is really a story about the recognition of boom/bust cycles that characterize national economies. This same scenario is what happened to the world's greatest economy - USA- from 2001-2007, and from 2008-now. The differences are:
1) The USA has a structurally sound economic foundation;
2) As the USA put in place short-term spending & borrowing to revive its economy with great difficulty, it is also putting in place fundamental restructuring in infrastructure, auto-industry, energy and education that will eventually allow production-based growth to return;
3) Corrupt people who took advantage of the system are being prosecuted. New laws are being written, etc.

In Nigeria's case, the foundations of our economy are weak or non-existent so we need not just fundamental restructuring, we need new foundations for growth in all the above areas. Currently, our economy doesn't produce much - we take oil from the ground and sell it using foreign companies (who steal us blind by the way), but we produce nothing beyond what our farmer's grow from their day-in-day-out hard labor. Guess what, the same corrupt people that destroyed and continue to destroy our economy are the same ones running for office & pretending to have some magic wand.

It is easy for Atiku to criticize, and he may be right. The real question is WOULD HE HAVE DONE THINGS DIFFERENTLY? Next time he writes, let him state WHAT SHOULD BE DONE INSTEAD to be taken seriously.

whats the state of oil prices at  the moment and what has been the state of oil prices in the last 12 months? That has been the basis of this budget critic. How come at a time of Oil Boom, we are still trying to borrow money from everywhere else to finance our budget and yet there are no major infrastructures we have spent the money on.

Read the critic again with an open mind as a Nigerian and forget your obligation to attack perceieved opponents back and then we can have a reasonable conversation.

BTW before you criticise Atiku/Soludo, remember that when Atiku left office with OBJ; the reserves stood at over $40b dollars in spite of the challenges of recurrent expenditures that they too had. When you criticise Soludo I hope you will compare the state of banks that Soludo met and the state of banks he left and offer an honest critic.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by Obiagu1(m): 10:36pm On Jan 02, 2011
I'll add that oil price in 2007 was between $35 and $40, now it is over $90.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by macjive01: 11:02pm On Jan 02, 2011
Obiagu1:

Whether Soludo has a hand in it or not does not matter, afterall Obama almost got vast in economics during his campaign because he listened to his economic advisers.

Where is GEJ's advisers and who wrote that crap called budget that will help widen our recurrent expenditure over capital expenditure in the nearest future? They are all dunce, dunce, dunce  grin
Maybe it's deep rooted than I thought, an orchestrated looting galore.

Don’t forget that OBJ/Atiku government left reserves for us, now we are borrowing to the extent of 33% of our budget in less than 4 yrs of Ya’dua/GEJ -  GEJ/Sambo government, crazy!

that one of the big problems with GEJ - a fool who doesnt know he is a fool is the biggest of fools

what stops GEJ employing accomplished men like soludo?

ngozi okonje iwella?

ribadu? if ribadu was offer commissioner of police do u think these insecurities wud b same? even if a bomb explodes  , there wud hv been over due actions on the police structure and operations.

even mk buhari --EFCC chairman- he wud accept it, he obviously wants to contribute to the national restructuring.
Re: Atiku Takes Jonathan-economics To The Clearners ! ! ! by OAM4J: 11:07pm On Jan 02, 2011
jamace:

Atiku is only a noisemaker and has no love for this country. He has been tested and he failed woefully. His shoddy, selfish and looting ability  were  exposed in his handling of BPE during OBJ tenure. Be informed also that Atiku is busy junketting his investments from US to Saudi Arabia to escape US anti-corruption agency radar. If he has vision for the development of Nigeria, why did he not invest in Nigeria but hidding his stolen wealth in foreign lands?

Kai, politics sweet o. See looter teaching us budgetting and some people are hailing him, claiming he is making sense. Na wa o shocked shocked

It is not about personalities now, it is about facts and figures. Dont allow your bias against Atiku to blind your eyes to facts. I dont like Atiku either.

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