The Senate on Wednesday 25th May, 2015 unanimously resolved to invite Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, to brief its hallowed chambers on the federal government’s fiscal policies.
Moving the motion titled ‘‘An Urgent need to address the present economic state of the Nation’’ Sen. Bassey Albert Akpan (PDP:Akwa-Ibom) drew the attention of the Senate to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics which indicated that Nigeria’s economy had plunged into a recession. Sen. Bassey expressed worry that the current decline in GDP, unemployment and rate of inflation are a reflection that the economic policies of government has not made the desired impact and requires an urgent review to avoid further negative effects on the economy. He also emphasized that the current economic situation in the country coupled with lack of required foreign exchange to boost imports of raw materials for domestic industries will worsen unemployment and poverty situation in the country. He said further that vandalization of oil pipelines has led to decrease in the projected oil production, which could affect budget implementation.
Corroborating the motion, Sen. Biodun Olujimi (PDP:Ekiti) said Nigeria had no visible economic policy and supported that the Minister of Finance and Governor of Central Bank be invited to brief the Senate.
