The BMO also said that Obasanjo needs to be reminded that he did not build a resilient economy when he had the opportunity to do so.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari succeeded in diversifying the economy, an area where former President Olusegun Obasanjo failed.
The organisation said in a statement on Tuesday signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that the ex-President needs to drop his holier-than-though stance on national issues.
The BMO also said that Obasanjo needs to be reminded that he did not build a resilient economy when he had the opportunity to do so.
“Now, he claims Buhari ‘does not understand the economy’ and we wonder how someone who could not use the oil boom that Nigeria enjoyed under him to build a more structured economy than what we had throughout the PDP years could be so hypocritical.
“This is the same man who presided over an 8 per cent decline in economic growth from 15 per cent in 2002 to 7.35 per cent in 2003 and 6.59 per cent by the time he handed over in 2007.
“Conversely, it was Buhari who stemmed the tide of four consecutive PDP-era GDP contractions between Q2 2014 and Q2 2015, and set the country on the path of growth with a more resilient and diversified economy from Q3 2015.
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“We dare to say that many analysts, with proper knowledge of economics, have continued to express surprise that the Nigerian economy recorded a 7th consecutive quarter of GDP growth since the recession in Q3 of 2020 at a period of a sustained global slump.
“But for us, it is a reflection of the policies put in place by the Buhari administration, even before COVID-19 struck, that were targeted at weaning the country off its overdependence on crude oil, something former President Obasanjo failed to do,” the BMO said.
The group added: “What did he bequeath to Nigeria beyond living off oil proceeds without a thought for proper economic diversification, and poor infrastructure with no legacy project?
“Many Nigerians have said the only Obasanjo era diversification was the one that grew his farm and added a university, amongst others, to his private businesses, but he has the audacity to deride a President on whose watch, the non oil sector is regularly contributing over 90 per cent to GDP growth.
“As for foreign affairs, former President Obasanjo must be envious of the way, leaders across the world are treating Buhari with the regards he expected to have been reserved for only he alone.”