The respected lawyer believes some of the decisions taken by the government have plummeted the value of the country’s currency.
Respected Human Rights Activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has disclosed that he knows a team of lawyers that can help the present administration recover over $200 billion from fuel subsidy looters.
He said this during an interview with Channels Television on Friday, where he spoke about the state of the nation’s economy under the President Bola-Ahmed Tinubu administration.
According to him, the government’s decision to remove fuel subsidy and the recent decision to float the naira are wrong moves.
Recall that President Tinubu announced the end of the subsidy regime during his inaugural speech as president on May 29. His government has also decided to float the naira as part of a wider monetary reforms being carried out by the Central Bank.
These decision have worsen the country’s economy as inflation continues to surge at an alarming rate.
During the interview, Falana was asked what he thinks should be done to arrest the situation. He stated that the situation would remain the same if the government continues to adhere to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank directives on how to run the economy.
“I’m saying that there is no way the value of the naira will pick up if we continue to take instructions from the IMF and World Bank to run our economy, “ he said.
Falana also said that the government should prioritize the investigation of the alleged scam that characterised fuel importation in the country rather than the hasty removal of subsidy.
He said, “Today, it’s only those two institutions, two brettonwood institutions that are commending the government for removing fuel subsidy without investigating the fraud that characterised the importation of fuel.
“Those are the two institutions commending the government for floating the naira. You don’t float the currency, apart from a banana republic, how can you float your currency when you didn’t control the dollar?
“So, these are issues that government would have to address and I’m saying publicly, if the government is prepared I know a team of lawyers that can the government to recover not less than $200bn between three and six months.
“So the government would have to really go back to the drawing table. How can we organise this country in the interest of our people and also in the interest of the government because the government needs political stability.”
