Saraki: We will bridge economic disparity gap

The Senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has said the National Assembly is determined to bridge the gap of economic disparity in Nigeria.

Speaking while addressing the United States Chamber of Commerce on ‘Doing Business and Opportunities in Nigeria’ as part of a parliamentary visit to Washington DC by a National Assembly delegation at the weekend, Saraki called on the government of the United States of America to take its rightful place in trade and investment relationship with Nigeria. According to him, Nigeria is opening up avenues for the private sector to come in and play their own part so as to lift 87 million people out of poverty while creating opportunities and prosperity across board. “To do this successfully requires you, our partners, and investors, to join hands with us to build viable cooperation and partnership that will be of benefit to our two nations. Nigeria’ success holds the key to the success of Africa. Our vision is to ensure that we form the nucleus upon which Africa can attain collective and sustained development. In order to do this, Africa needs you and we look forward to working with you.”

He said the aim of the visit was to strengthen parliamentary and diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the United States and help explore the background and tips to explore, commence, expand and strengthen business ties in Nigeria.

The Senate president told his audience that “In 2015 when this administration came on board, the Nigerian economy was in a free fall as a result of the steep fall in the price of oil in the international market. This exposed the structural weaknesses in the economy. Our reserves plummeted and we hit double digit recession of about -13.40%. We lost over four million jobs as a result. Our exchange rate to the dollar fell by roughly 39.2% from N196 to the dollar, to N500 to the dollar.”