The second term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo was the “most successful” in terms of economic growth, job creation, and inflation rate in Nigeria, according to Nasir el-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna state.
El-Rufai stated this on Friday at a conference called Africa In the World in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
After serving his first four years in office, Obasanjo served his second four-year term from 2003 to 2007.
According to El-Rufai, Nigeria went back to “proper integrated planning and we also got lucky” at the time.
He emphasised the need for proper planning to aid the economic growth of any country.
“We have a planning commission in Nigeria but it has not been as effective,” the former governor said.
El-Rufai said planning committees are “absolutely relevant” in most developing countries.
“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,” he said.
“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 goes to that savings account.
“And with that, we were able to get rid of all our foreign debt.”
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