LP Senator To FG: Nigerians Suffering, Let The Middle Class Breathe

A Labour Party (LP) Senator who represents Edo South in the National Assembly, Neda Imasuen, has faulted the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows by the President Bola Tinubu administration.

Imasuen, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, was a guest on Sunday’s edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme on Channels Television.

He said Nigerians, especially the middle class, are paying too much a price for the so-called reforms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by Tinubu.

The lawmaker said the legislature “can only support them (the executive) and hope that their plan takes us to the destination”.

Imasuen said, “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?

“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 N100,000.”

Imasuen also said state governments have roles to play in alleviating the suffering of the people but they are not playing their roles.

Nigerians are facing one of the worst economic crises in decades, with soaring inflation fueled by skyrocketing energy and food costs. The middle class is the most hit, with many of them sacrificing their cars to survive the unprecedented hardship in the country.

Critics have faulted Tinubu’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange rates which many Nigerians believed were responsible for the unimaginable inflation and soaring living and energy costs in the country. Thousands of Nigerians have stormed the streets in recent times to protest what they described as an unbearable economic situation in the country.

During his second Independence Day Anniversary Broadcast on October 1, 2024, the former Lagos governor sympathised with Nigerians over the economic hardship his reforms might have caused whilst he assured them that his administration had been busy implementing measures to bring down the high cost of living.

Tinubu pleaded for more patience and time, saying his administration is retooling its economic policies for the good of common Nigerians.