Senate invites Buhari over economic recession

‎The senate has invited President Muhammadu Buhari to brief a joint session of the national assembly on his plans for getting the economy out of recession.

On September 22, the house of represent‎atives passed a resolution inviting Buhari to explain to the legislature his plans to deal with the economic recession.

On Thursday, the senate concurred with the resolution of the house on Thursday.

The federal government says it is yet to roll out plans to halt the recession.

But in his speech on Nigeria’s 56th Independence Day celebration, Buhari assured Nigerians that the economic challenges would not last long.
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“I know that uppermost in your minds today is the economic crisis. The recession for many individuals and families is real. For some It means not being able to pay school fees, for others it’s not being able to afford the high cost of food (rice and millet) or the high cost of local or international travel, and for many of our young people the recession means joblessness, sometimes after graduating from university or polytechnic,” he said.

“I know how difficult things are, and how rough business is. All my adult life I have always earned a salary and I know what it is like when your salary simply is not enough. In every part of our nation people are making incredible sacrifices.

“‎But let me say to all Nigerians today, I ran for office four times to make the point that we can rule this nation with honesty and transparency, that we can stop the stealing of Nigeria’s resources so that the resources could be used to provide jobs for our young people, security, infrastructure for commerce, education and healthcare.

“I ran for office because I know that good government is the only way to ensure prosperity and abundance for all. I remain resolutely committed to this objective. I believe that this recession will not last‎.”

If the president honours the invitation of the national assembly, it will be the third time he will be addressing the legislature.

In December 2015, he addressed the national assembly, speaking specifically on the content of the 2016 budget proposal; while in March 2016, he briefly addressed the legislature during the visit of Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, to the national assembly.

The senate had summoned some key government officials over the state of economy.

In May, it summoned Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, to explain the economic direction of the country, and to confirm if the economy was in a recession.

At the time, Adeosun said that economy was “technically in a recession”.

In the same month, the upper legislative chamber also summoned Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to explain reasons for the steady fall in the value of the naira.

It held meeting with the CBN governor behind closed doors‎.