Morka: Nigeria Has Moved From ‘Broke’ Economy To Growth

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying Nigeria has moved from a period of severe fiscal distress to stronger economic growth and increased foreign reserves.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, made the assertion during an interview on TVC News’ Beyond the Headlines with Nifemi Oguntoye on Wednesday.

Morka said the removal of fuel subsidy was necessary because the country had reached a point where it could barely meet its financial obligations.

He claimed Nigeria was previously spending about 93 per cent of its revenues on subsidy payments and debt servicing, leaving little money to run government or invest in infrastructure.

According to him, the reforms have since created stronger economic fundamentals.

Morka said Nigeria’s economy was now growing at more than 4.5 per cent, while foreign reserves had risen from about $3 billion to $50 billion.

He also claimed that oil production had increased from about 700,000 barrels per day to approximately 1.7 million barrels per day, while Nigeria had recorded several consecutive quarters of stronger exports.

He said the changes demonstrated that the reforms were already producing results, even though Nigerians were yet to fully experience their benefits at household level.

“The removal of subsidy is already bearing fruit that will, by gestation, by time, yield microeconomic drastic improvements that our people will ultimately see and benefit from,” Morka said.

The APC spokesman acknowledged the pressure facing households, but argued that economic reforms should not be judged as if they were one-off events.

He said countries such as the United States, Germany, France, Canada and the United Kingdom were also grappling with inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

Morka further argued that international developments, including fluctuations in global energy prices and geopolitical conflicts, continued to affect Nigeria’s economy.

He maintained that petrol prices were influenced by international market conditions and could not simply be dictated by the Nigerian government.

The APC spokesman said reversing the reforms would risk returning Nigeria to the period of fiscal weakness that preceded the Tinubu administrati