&w=64&q=75)
Neda Imasuen, a Labour Party (LP) Senator representing Edo South in the National Assembly, has faulted President Bola Tinubu's administration for simultaneously implementing the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange window.
Imasuen, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, expressed the view when he appeared on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme on Channels Television on Sunday, on October 20, 2024
According to the lawmaker, Nigerians, especially the middle class are paying a heavy price for the All Progressives Congress (APC) government’s so-called reforms.
He said the legislature “can only support them (the executive) and hope that their plan takes us to the destination.
“This is not the time to trade blame; it’s time to sit down and say, look, our people are suffering, how do we sort out the situation we have found ourselves in?
"The steps that are being taken, I’m afraid that the suffering that Nigerians are going through right now is too much a price to pay for it.
“Now, this is a country that we don’t produce, we import, and we are devaluing our naira. I don’t see how that is going to help us. Everything is tied to the dollar, and the dollar keeps going up.
“Let’s develop our industries. These SMEs work a lot if we can strengthen small and medium enterprises and give the middle-class breathing space to do what he has to do.
“On this question of subsidy, there is no country that does not subsidise, especially in the area of agriculture. Our farmers need access to funding and they need government intervention to produce the food that we need. Today, many cannot buy a bag of rice; it’s about ₦100,000,” he stated.
Imasuen also argued that state governments have roles to play in lessening the people's suffering but they have failed in that regard.