(By Basil Obasi – ABUJA)
Contrary to the blame on the 16 years of PDP leadership as being responsible for the current economic recession, the Minister for National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma has attributed the situation to have resulted from the downslide in crude oil revenue due to the drastic fall in price as well as the activities of militancy in the Niger Delta region.
The Minister, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. James Akpandem, explained that the current recession being witnessed in the nation’s economy is caused by twin effects of reduction in output from oil exploration and down slide in the price of crude oil in the international market.
Udoma expressed displeasure over the unpatriotic activities of Niger Delta militants which left the country with producing slightly above 1million barrels as against the initial projection of 2.2 million barrels per day.
“If oil revenue has flowed in according to projections, the country’s foreign exchange earnings would not have taken the level of downward trend we have witnessed and the negative multiplier effect on our exchange rate, employment and inflation would have been a different story.
“We blame the past administration because they were unable to do the needful; they ought to have built the necessary shock absolver that will save the country from volatility inherent in dependence on a highly volatile sector as the only source of revenue.
“We must find a way out of the current over reliance on oil as the nation’s mono-economic mainstay by looking at other sources where income can be generated. This basically informed our resolution to diversify the revenue base of the country,” he said.