The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has cautioned human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, against commenting on matters he knows little about, saying he erred in his recent assessment of the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The senior advocate had, in a recent appearance on a TV programme, claimed that President Tinubu had wiped out the entire middle class while demanding a review of the administration’s policies.
But in a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG argued that Falana’s claim was over-exaggerated due to his poor knowledge of economics.
It said: “After reading the transcripts of a recent TV interview by human rights lawyer Femi Falana on President Tinubu’s economic policies, which, according to him, have ‘wiped out the middle class, we concluded that he was not fair to the administration.
”It was common knowledge in the run-up to the 2023 election, at least for those with some understanding of economics, that the fuel subsidy regime was no longer sustainable and had to be removed. There was also the foreign exchange policy that had created an arbitrage that was damaging the economy. It was against this backdrop that on assuming office, President Tinubu took the needed steps to reform the economy.
”Like many officials of Tinubu’s administration, we also acknowledge that the twin policies of the government had created a cost-of-living crisis in the country when they were initially introduced. It was an expected development as there is nowhere in the world where the effects of such a shock therapy would not be felt in the system.
”We can easily recall that even the President had long before now said the reforms would come with some hardship, which would eventually lead to good times, and we make bold to say that the green shoots are beginning to show.
”But the learned silk and his ilk have deliberately ignored the gradual and remarkable improvement between when the government removed fuel subsidy and merged the multiple exchange rates, and now, two years later.
”And to say those policies have wiped out the middle class is classic over-exaggeration by a brilliant lawyer with little or no understanding of modern economics, and that is why he was quick to refer to the Tinubu economic policies as “neo-liberal policies”.
”This is, however, not surprising because the revered lawyer had once been dismissive of the economic prowess of a global icon and former two-time Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. It is little wonder that there is anything he would not say to further his interest as an activist.”
The group also gave some insight into initiatives introduced by the President Tinubu administration in the aftermath of its reforms as well as the output.
”Back to Mr Falana’s position on Tinubu’s economic policies, claims that things are tougher with no government response do not add up. This is because the current administration has gone to great lengths to introduce initiatives with veritable impacts, even on the middle class, which Mr Falana said had been wiped out.
”We are aware that the FX policy weakened the naira on introduction but it has since rebounded from a low of about N1,850/$1 back then to N1,5200/$1 in August as a result of increased investor confidence, a much improved daily crude production and oil sector reforms which have made the sector more attractive, amongst others.
”There is no way the human rights lawyer would not be aware that Nigeria’s foreign reserves are up and stabilising, while the stock market is at a historic high to underline the fact that the economy is on the rise. This is reflected in recent reports that the Nigerian economy has grown to a level not seen in 10 years.
”After decades of nuisance taxes that have negatively impacted many Nigerians, including the middle class, the country now has a new tax law which is bound to increase the disposable income of the average Nigerian through tax reliefs and exemptions targeted at low-income earners and small businesses.
”On social welfare programmes, we find it necessary to reiterate, for instance, that 5 million households have received a total of N493 billion in recent months at the rate of N75,000 monthly under the federal government’s social protection programme which is being digitised to make it easier for the funds to get to the target beneficiaries. The target is to reach 15 million vulnerable households eventually.
”There is also the school feeding programme which has been beefed up to cater for about 9.8 million children in 53,000 schools across 36 states and the FCT.
”And lest we forget, there is the student loan initiative, Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) which as at August 7, has touched the lives of over 396,000 students through tuition loans and monthly stipends.
”It is clear that the Tinubu administration is committed to making life better for Nigerians, so for us, the President asking governors (not necessarily the ones from APC like Falana claimed) to ‘wet the ground’ is a call to duty, a call for the subnationals to collaborate with the centre and do more especially now that they have much more allocations from the federation account.
”We therefore find it surprising that rather than direct his call to governors, Mr Falana said President Tinubu should be able to persuade them to codify social investment programmes and enact them into law.
”We also wonder which of the Tinubu reforms, the human rights lawyer is seeking a review of, and like many Nigerians, we would love to hear an alternative he would proffer”, the statement added.
TMSG Tackles Falana On Tinubu’s E conomic R eforms
