President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the
criticism that his handling of the economy led the
country into a recession.

Speaking at the State House,in Abuja during a
meeting with the Senior Executive Course No 38
of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic
Studies, (NIPSS), he said that it was not his
administration that led the country into recession.
The president said: “In the last one and half years
of this administration, the economy has
experienced some tough times, particularly with
the decline in oil revenues, which has some harsh
impacts on Nigerians at the grassroots.
“It is also important to note that the economic
recession is not the making of this administration,
but rather a consequence of bad management of
the economy in the past couple of decades. Nor is
recession limited to Nigeria; there are far, far
worse cases than Nigeria.”

The president, however, said that no matter the
scale of the problem facing the country, the
important thing was how to tackle it.
He said his administration was committed to
finding lasting solutions to the nation’s economic
structural imbalance.
“Let us have faith in our great nation that we will
come out of this recession vibrant and strong,” he
added.

The president said it was impossible for his
administration to ignore the poor who made great
sacrifice to bring him to government.
He said: “Ours more than any other government
in the history of Nigeria is a people’s government.
We therefore must and we will keep faith with the
people.”