From Laide Raheem,
Abeokuta
A Christian cleric, Prophet Sunday Iyunade, has said that the introduction and mismanagement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, was an economic blunder which has destroyed the nation’s economy.
According him, TSA which necessitated the closure of all government accounts in various banks and led to billions of naira being mopped from circulation, caused economic crisis in Nigeria. Iyunade, who is the president of Pentecostal Sanctuary Bible Ministries, spoke on Saturday at a press conference organised to herald the commemoration of the church’s 21st anniversary and the 15th annual convention, held at its headquarters in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state.
The commemorative event with the theme: ‘Occupy Till I Come’, is scheduled to commence on Sunday, March 19 with Convention Rally and end on Sunday, March 26 with thanksgiving and ordination service.
Speaking further, he maintained that government buried the economy when over $20b in various government accounts was put into a single account and converted it into naira, without any concrete investment plans. Iyunade, who lamented the high cost of living in the country, decried the government’s decision to borrow N4.7trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within three months in 2016 insisting the present government deliberately plunged Nigeria into economic woes by what he termed “erroneous economic policy.”
“This government committed economic blunder by introducing TSA because that started the destruction of our economy. The government, with the step, mopped up about $20b from accounts of the FG in various banks and converted the money into our own local currency.
Since then, the economy has been in parlous state.
“All efforts to revive the ailing economy by the government have been futile because that singular policy was faulty as cash flow had been adversely decimated and the economy is gravely affected”. He stated.
He, however, urged the present government to stop blaming the past administration for its economic inefficiency noting “if the incumbent had proper and suitable economic plans, Nigeria would not have found itself in an awkward economic situation”.
The cleric, equally called on President Buhari-led government to make its anti-corruption fight an all inclusive one and be sincere with its policies and dealings, in order for the country to get out of the economic quagmire as soon as possible.