The highly regarded London-based Financial Times Newspaper has given the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari some knocks for presiding over an unworkable country since 2015.
In an article published on Monday, the newspaper said Nigerians will feel better if Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, were to be elected president in the 2023 general election.
“If Yemi Osinbajo, the technocratic Vice President, were miraculous to make it through the campaign ticket and emerge as president, the hearts of Nigerian optimists would beat a little faster,” it said
“But that may be to underestimate the depth of Nigeria’s quagmire. The problem is not so much who leads the government as the nature of government itself.”
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According to the Financial Times, the Buhari administration failed to tackle the country’s insecurity, Nigeria’s debt profile increased under his watch.
“Buhari has overseen two terms of the economic slump, rising debt and a calamitous increase in kidnapping and banditry – the one thing you might have thought a former general could control,” the newspaper added.
“Next year, many of the members of government will change, though not necessarily the bureaucracy behind it.
“Campaigning has already begun for presidential elections that in February 2023 will draw the curtain on eight years of the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, on whose somnolent watch Nigeria has sleepwalked closer to disaster.”
The newspaper also said financial strength has remained a crucial determinant of the country’s election winners.
The media outlet said Nigeria’s presidential election is estimated to cost $2billion (N1 trillion.)
“Familiar candidates to replace him (Buhari), mostly recycled old men, are already counting their money ahead of a costly electoral marathon.
“It takes an estimated $2billion to get a president elected. Those who pay will expect to be paid back,” it added.
Financial Times reechoes what former head of state, Ibrahim Babangida said that Osinbajo can be more effective as president.
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