Acting President , Prof . Yemi Osinbajo, has described corruption as one of the reasons Nigerians were facing hardship.
Osinbajo said corruption , which had been in the country for many years , contributed a lot to the economic challenge affecting Nigeria .
Explaining that the Federal Government was investigating the $ 15 billion Defence contract , he stated that the disappearance of such an amount would lead any country to hardship .
The Acting President , who spoke in Port Harcourt on Tuesday during a town hall meeting with members of the All Progressives Congress , also attributed the country’ s current economic woes to the continued attack on the nation’ s oil facilities .
“ It is easy for people to say that times are hard . One of the reasons things are hard in the country is the corruption that has been in the system for years .
“ We are investigating at the moment, the $ 15 billion of the defence contract award . If $ 15 billion dollars disappeared when you have a reserve of $ 30 billion , there is no way there will not be hardship.
“ The other thing is the destruction of pipelines and facilities . Oil prices fell by half , then we started losing one million barrels a day , 60 per cent of revenue . There is no way there will be no recession . ”
Osinbajo, however , expressed optimism that with the prudent management of inadequate resources , the country would move out of its current economic challenges.
“ We are sure that because of the way we are approaching the business of governance , even with the little resources , things will change for the better . For the first time, we have bailed out the states of the federation.
“ When we came , 22 states were not paying salaries at all. We had to bail them out twice . Despite the lean resources , we are still able to support the states .
“ In the next few months, as things shape up , this country will improve and the exchange rate will improve , ” the Acting President stressed .
Osinbajo noted that Nigeria would have crumbled economically , but for the prudence of the Muhammadu Buhari administration .
He added that the economy was recovering, noting that in a few months, things would begin to change for the nation .
Osinbajo noted that projects that would benefit the people of the Niger Delta region would be given adequate attention by the Federal Government.
