Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State, has revealed that the second term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the “most successful” in terms of economic growth, job creation, and inflation rate in Nigeria.
El-Rufai revelation recently at a conference tagged Africa In the World in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Recall that Obasanjo served his second four-year term between 2003 and 2007.
While making the revelation, El-Rufai said Nigeria went back to “proper integrated planning and we also got lucky” at the time.
He talked about the need for proper planning to aid the economic growth of any country.
He said: “We have a planning commission in Nigeria but it has not been as effective.”
El-Rufai said planning committees are “absolutely relevant” in most developing countries.
He said: “If you look at Nigeria’s economic trajectory, the most successful four to five-year period of economic growth, job creation, and reduced inflation was the period of the second term of President Obasanjo in 2003 to 2007 when for the first time, the country went back into proper integrated planning and we also got lucky.
“Oil prices began to rise but we did not waste the windfall because we had planned. We had an excess crude account (ECA) that was based on fiscal rule that any surpluses above a certain benchmark price of crude oil go to that savings account.
“And with that, we were able to get rid of all our foreign debt.”
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