Muhammadu Sanusi II, the former Emir of Kano, says Nigeria led a false life under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking at a virtual religious summit on Sunday, Sanusi said “sycophants” bought the dollar at N400 and sold N540, while the government borrowed money from within and outside the country.
He said the immediate past administration treated the country’s economy without giving recourse to experts’ advice.
“They treated the economy the way they wanted and refused to listen to experts. In the last eight years, only sycophancy succeeded. The sycophants bought dollars at N400 and sold N540,” he said.
“An inexperienced boy who has no record of service has a private jet and owns houses in Dubai and England just because he is buying dollars at such a rate and selling them [at another].
“About N30 trillion was borrowed from the Central Bank. All the revenue the country generated in the last few years couldn’t service debt. Debt service exceeded 100 per cent.
“Government borrowed to service debts. No country can grow this way. Time will come when one cannot borrow any more. Additionally there will be nothing to pay debts.”
Sanusi said President Bola Tinubu did not push Nigerians into difficulty. “I will never say Tinubu has pushed Nigeria into difficulty. I am not saying he is flawless or flawed,” he said.
“We will speak when he goes astray. The government can’t pay subsidies since it doesn’t have the means,” he said.
“If they add tax, we have to pay since borrowing is impossible. If the CBN printed more naira, the dollar would jack up to N1,500. We must suffer. When I was the CBN governor it was N150. Today it’s somewhere around N900.”
