Former Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola has blamed former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, over what he described as his role in the weak infrastructural base in Nigeria.
Although he did not mention names, Fashola specifically said that in 2005 (a period when Obasanjo was president), Nigeria had the opportunity to revamp its roads and rails, but rather was pursuing debt cancellation as state policy.
Speaking on Channels Television, the Minister of Works and Housing said the former President should have invested in capital projects across the country, instead of paying off external debts.
According to the Minister, if he had the $12 billion like the Olusegun Obasanjo government in 2005, he would have built rails and more roads. He recalled that in 2005/2006, the Paris Club wrote off $18 billion of the $30 billion Nigeria owed the cartel after months of negotiations.
Fashola said that rather than deploy the funds prudently, the Obasanjo government decided to pay the country’s creditors to the detriment of the country. According to him, Nigeria has gone to borrowing because past administrations ignored investment in infrastructure.
Fashola explained that the assertion that Buhari was mortgaging the future of the nation’s children was untenable, saying that the government was only positioning for the future. The minister stressed that the Buhari government would continue to do its best to ensure that the country’s infrastructure is developed.