Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President, African Development Bank, has urged President-elect Bola Tinubu to ensure inclusiveness, fairness, equity, and justice when he assumes office.
Adesina, who spoke at a Lecture in Abuja, said it was important for Tinubu to rise above party lines and forge a compelling force to move the nation forward.
According to the AfDB boss, the election of a new president elicits hope, and Nigerians will be looking forward to tackling insecurity, as well as ensuring peace and stability.
He equally said Nigerians would be looking forward to the president-elect drastically improving the economy and “sparking a new wave of prosperity”.
“Hope must be brought to the present as hope deferred makes the heart grow weary.
“The starting point must be macroeconomic and fiscal stability.
“Unless the economy is revived and fiscal challenges addressed boldly, resources to develop will not be there.
“No bird can fly if its wings are tied.”
According to Adesina, Nigeria currently faces huge fiscal deficits, estimated at six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“This has been due to huge federal and state government expenditures, lower receipts due to dwindling revenues from export of crude oil, vandalism of pipelines and illegal bunkering of crude oil.”
“According to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria now spends 96 per cent of its revenue servicing debt.
“This is with the debt-to-revenue ratio rising from 83.2 percent in 2021 to 96.3 percent by 2022.”
Adesina said some people would argue that the debt to GDP ratio at 34 percent was low compared to other countries in Africa.
He said the assertion was correct but added, “no one pays their debt using GDP.”
The AfDB boss said debt was paid using revenue but unfortunately, Nigeria’s revenues had been declining.
Adesina said that Nigeria earned revenue to service debt and not to grow.
“The place to start is to remove the inefficient fuel subsidies.”
