By Vera Chinonso Aliyu and Ada Obeleagu, YeyeNews.com, October 20, 2021
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that the high rate of inflation is because the disposable income in the hands of Nigerians has increased significantly since Buhari became president. The NBS made the claim in their monthly inflation report for October.
“The disposable income of Nigerians have steadily increased in the past six years as a result of the massive employment created by the government. Nigerians now have so much money in their pockets and the amount of goods in the market has not increased commensurately. Too much money chasing after fewer goods is what is driving the prices up”, they wrote in the report.
On the way to reduce the inflation rate, the NBS recommended that since Nigerians have too much money in their hands as a result of the various sound economic policies of Buhari’s administration, the government and the private sector should intensify effort to increase production and also import food products and other things so that Nigerians could have things to spend the income on. “It does not make economic sense to have money that can’t be spent. So as the government is creating opportunities for the citizens they should also ensure that citizens have value for their money. Too much money in the hands of the citizens that buys nothing is inimical to economic growth”.
An economic analyst Benjamin Ajuda however questioned the veracity of the data used by the NBS to prepare the report. “The real experience of Nigerians is at variance with the content of that report. I don’t understand how NBS generate their data. They must have done some voodoo statistics to arrive in such a conclusion”, Mr. Ajuda said. “This kind of computation has been consistent since the NBS got a new leadership. I wish ordinary people in the street are feeling the economic boom that the NBS is reporting”.
An APC chieftain in Lagos hailed the report as a confirmation of the great economic achievements of the Buhari government. “This one is not from APC. It is a completely independent and objective report. Nobody interferes with the independence of the NBS. Buhari is a messiah of the Nigerian masses”. But the spokesman of the PDP totally disagrees with report calling it a “doctored document” written to massage the ego of the president. “Nigerians understand the violence that has been done to their pockets by this government. No amount of whitewashing can change that fact”.
