President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Sunday debunked insinuations in certain quarters that Nigeria insulvent, saying Nigeria is neither broke nor bankrupt.
The President, who stated this during his Presidential Media Chat, said “the claim that Nigeria is broke is politically motivated.”
He explained that the misunderstanding between the Federal and States’ Ministries of Finance during FAAC meeting was not because federal government could not afford allocations due to States.
He said the misunderstanding was misconceived by the opposition to label the country as being bankrupt.
According to him, the nation’s economy is witnessing tremendous growth with the right policies put in place by his administration.
He said: ‘’Nigeria is now an investors’ haven in sub-saharan Africa and the GPD is growing at appreciable rate.’’
The President said that oil theft which hitherto was at alarming rate was being brought under control adding that government was building a robust security architecture to check the crime.
He said that some arrests had been made and prosecution of the offenders were on course.
Jonathan likened oil theft to Boko Haram insurgence and said ‘’it is a cancer that must be crushed.’’
He called on the international community to label oil theft an international crime and assist in arresting the perpetrators when such crude got to their soil.
The President also noted that government was winning the war against corruption and said the menace was not the country’s Number One problem.
On the recent killing of seven suspected Boko Haram members at Apo, a suburb of Abuja, Jonathan said that his administration would continue to safeguard all citizens from terrorist attacks.
According to him, the preliminary security report on the incident shows that there were elements of Boko Haram at the uncompleted building.
‘’It is my duty as a President to stop the killing of innocent people by militant groups across the country.’’
The President also dismissed the assertion that the Federal Executive Council had been turned into a contract awarding council, saying the council was not violating the nation’s constitution by approving the award contracts.
