By Sabiu Abdullahi
Former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika has defended the economic record of former President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissing claims that his administration left Nigeria in economic hardship.
Sirika spoke during an interview on Arise Television, where he argued that the country was in a stable economic and social condition under Buhari’s leadership.
He said, “I don’t want to get dragged into that debate, but the truth of the matter is that President Buhari has done extremely very well on the economy.
“And I’m not an economist, but I do know so because I’ve been in the country, I’ve been in the government, I know so.
”And I’ve seen that the country at the time was in good state both economically and the social issues within the country.”
When asked to assess President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Sirika declined to criticise the current government. He said it would be unfair to judge decisions taken by an administration in which he has no role.
He maintained that each government should be assessed according to the circumstances it faces. He also said he would not publicly question policies that he is not responsible for implementing.
According to him, “I do believe that he led the country that is flourishing. Because I am not President Muhammadu Buhari, and neither am I President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to really comment on the policies that they have made… I don’t think it’s been fair for me to sit down and make a critique of why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did this or not.”
Sirika also argued that there is no conflict between the policy direction of the Buhari and Tinubu administrations because both governments operate under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said, “But I want to say categorically that the policies by President Muhammadu Buhari are policies of our party and the policies that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is pursuing are policies of our party.
“So as an APC person, I do believe that they are not doing things, just off the top of their head, you know, to inflict injury on the country. No, I don’t think so.”
