Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said that Nigeria is not poor because it has no resources, but it is poor because a lot its resources are stolen or mismanaged.”
Osinbajo speaking at the at the 2017 Graduation ceremony of the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, Plateau state on Saturday, said for the first time in five years government was able to save $500million, and invested another $500million in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
He went further to say that: ‘Today our external reserves stands at $35billion the highest in the past four years.
‘We have made the point, that Nigeria is not poor because it has no resources, it is poor because a lot its resources are stolen or mismanaged. We can do a lot more with far less, if we don’t allow stealing.
“We must pay attention to what we are seeing today, and some of the shameless noises of those who brought our nation to its knees, many of whom still have looted funds in their possession, trying to rewrite history and hoodwink the populace again. We say never again.”
“But with 60% less revenue, we started a series of bailouts for the States, to enable them pay salaries and pensions. With 60% less revenue, we were able to provide about N1.3trillion for capital expenditure, the largest amount for capital in our nation’s history.”
“For the first time in five years we saved $500million, and invested another $500million in the Sovereign Wealth Fund. Today our external reserves stands at $35billion the highest in the past four years.”
