The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, says Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that the country’s economy is in “deeper trouble than the APC-led government is willing to admit”.

NBS, in its statistics quarterly report released last Friday, said Nigeria’s GDP stood at N45 trillion in the second quarter of 2022 on a year-on-year basis.

It equally noted that the country’s GDP rose by 3.54 per cent in Q2 2022.

However, Atiku, in a statement he personally issued on Tuesday, said: “The citizens’ level of misery hasn’t changed, and the reasons are obvious: first, the key sectors of the economy, notably agriculture, oil and gas (the country’s cash cow) and manufacturing (that contributes to jobs), are either growing slowly or declining.

“Second, unabated are rising commodity prices occasioned by high energy and transportation costs (and aggravated by the disorderliness in the forex market).

“Also, debt levels continue to rise while the fiscal capacity to service its debts is declining. All these are enough to erase the perceived gains from output growth.

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“Having run out of ideas, it appears that our unprecedented level of indebtedness is whetting the government’s appetite for more debt. This is a recipe for macroeconomic instability, he stated.

The former Vice President further challenged the NBS to “share with the public their recent statistics on poverty, unemployment and commodity prices — the reality of which will leave no hope for the common man.”

Atiku added that increasing debts would never be a solution to the country’s indebtedness, noting that if elected as president, “my government will halt the rate of debt accumulation and instead focus on private-public partnerships in financing development.

“Also is the consideration of a government of national unity that will douse the temperature, unite Nigerians and pave the way for improved security.

“Improved security allows for investments and, therefore, an improved economy. Also targeted tax rebates to attract foreign and local investments, amongst other proactive measures to attract investments to grow the economy,” the PDP presidential candidate said.

The Star