News Investigators/ President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has urged Nigerians to be patient with his administration, saying that his reforms have attracted $30 billion foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Nigerian economy in one year.
Mr. Tinubu said his government has built up the foreign reserves to $37billion, paid $7billion inherited forex backlog, cleared the ways and means debt of over N30trillion and reduced the debt ratio from 97 per cent to 68 per cent, he said pointing: “We inherited a reserve of over $33 billion 16 months ago.”
Mr. Tinubu spoke in a nationwide broadcast to commemmorate Nigeria’s 64th Independence on Tuesday.
“We are moving ahead with our fiscal policy reforms. To stimulate our productive capacity and create more jobs and prosperity, the Federal Executive Council approved the Economic Stabilisation Bills, which will now be transmitted to the National Assembly. These transformative bills will make our business environment more friendly, stimulate investment and reduce the tax burden on businesses and workers once they are passed into law.
“If we do not correct the fiscal misalignments that led to the current economic downturn, our country will face an uncertain future and the peril of unimaginable consequences,” he noted.
The president said his administration is committed to free enterprise, free entry, and free exit in investments while maintaining the sanctity and efficacy of the regulatory processes. He said the principle guides the divestment transactions in the upstream petroleum sector, where the government is committed to changing the fortune positively.
“As such, the ExxonMobil Seplat divestment will receive ministerial approval in a matter of days, having been concluded by the regulator, NUPRC, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA. This was done in the same manner as other qualified divestments approved in the sector.”