Avoid Breaking Point, Adjust IMF, World Bank Policies, Gambari Tells FG
Prof Ibrahim Gambari, former Chief of Staff to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has urged the administration of President Bola Tinubu to tweak some of its policies adopted from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“Ultimately, what’s the value of the policies that the people do not support?” the octogenarian diplomat queried on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
“The IMF and the World Bank are partners and this is our country. Therefore, if there is a policy they are advocating or they advised, and we find that it is not working, we should have the freedom to adjust it because our primary responsibility and of the government is to the people of this country.”
The two Bretton Woods institutions have consistently advocated the removal of energy subsidies and the floating of the naira, saying failure to effect the two economic policies has plunged Nigeria into severe inflationary pressures.
After his inauguration in May 2023, Tinubu, former Lagos governor, removed petrol subsidy and floated the naira. Petrol prices more than quadrupled, soaring from less than N200 per litre to over N1,100 in many parts of the country. The naira also took a nosedive, wobbling from around N700/$ to N1,600.
Food and commodity inflation have skyrocketed as Nigerians battle what can pass for the worst cost of living crisis since the country’s independence over six decades ago.
