A policy analysis group, the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has described the position of Senate Whip Senator Ali Ndume on President Bola Tinubu and his administration as a self-serving blackmail to whip up public sentiment.
According to the group, Ndume had recently described the administration as a kakistocracy but the policy analysis group said the Senate Whip’s comment wasn’t fact-based.
A press statement on Tuesday signed by the group’s chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, argued that policies and programmes introduced by the government since assuming office have been well thought-out contrary to what Ndume had been saying in the media.
The statement reads in part: “When such an individual launches an advocacy purportedly on redeeming governance to serve the purpose of the mass of the people, it’s natural to question the populist undertone of such manoeuvres.
“It’s in this context that we situate the recent outburst of Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his administration on sundry issues of state, chief of which is that the President lacks a quality team of people working with and for him. And that he (President) had become unapproachable even by his own cabinet members and by extension, influential state officials like himself.
“In this particular case, our opinion is that Ndume’s grumpiness as expressed during a live television interview is not only self-serving but a subterranean blackmail which politicians of his ilk have become adept at deploying when they desire to manipulate the public to side with their narrow objectives.
“As a body of analysts, we acknowledge Nigeria’s state of precariousness in, perhaps, all segments of its existence, but we’re of the candid belief that to mitigate the impact of the array of challenges arising from this precarious state, senior officials of state and other critical stakeholders must individually and collectively commit to sterilising emotions and base sentiments in favour of issues and policies in ways that enlightens rather than being vitriolic.
“So we wonder what exact purpose the Senator desired to serve when he declared during the television interview that people are hungry but the President was not aware of it. We consider that quite obtuse and a typical manoeuvre of playing to the gallery.
“In four public announcements over the course of the past 12 months, President Tinubu had variously sought the understanding of Nigerians concerning the impact of his policies and promised implementation of various intervening measures, the latest being the removal of taxes and tariffs on food items to be imported into the country during the pendency of a 150-day state of emergency on food affordability in the country,” the group added.
IMPI also made allusions to the positive outcome of some of the policy thrust of the Tinubu administration.
“Even as there are expressed misgivings on the depreciation of the Naira, it has turned out that the policy of harmonization of the foreign exchange windows is generating profit for manufacturing concerns in the country.
“The weaker Naira has tripled manufacturers’ export sales in the first three months of 2024. The latest financial statements of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Nestlé Nigeria Plc, Okomu Oil Palm Plc and Dangote Cement Plc show that their combined revenue from exports surged by 201.1 percent to N387.2 billion in the period, the highest in at least nine years.
“That’s up from N128.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023 when their export revenue rose by 41.2 percent.
“Further findings from the companies’ statements show that Nestlé recorded the highest growth in exports of 275 percent to N964 million in Q1 from N257 million in the same period of 2023 followed by Dangote Cement with 201.7 percent to N381.3 billion. Okomu Oil Palm and Unilever’s own increased by 194.4 percent and 62.7 percent respectively.
“This development is a positive one for the country as it creates an opportunity for manufacturers to get more naira to source for more foreign exchange needed for production.
“Relatedly, on year-on-year count, foreign capital inflows into the country rose by 198.1 percent from $1.13 billion recorded in Q1 of 2023. This is because the harmonization of the foreign exchange rate market, clearance of forex backlogs, naira devaluation, and high interest rates had sent positive signals to investors and influenced investments within the quarter,” the group added.
The group also urged public officials to use their privileged position to build advocacy around government policies rather than playing to the gallery.