Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai says Nigeria experienced tangible economic growth during the second term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
El-Rufai who made the remark during a session at the Africa In the World conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa, at the weekend, said Obasanjo’s second tenure yielded the most successful period of economic growth in Nigeria.
El-Rufai served as a minister under Obasanjo who became the first democratically elected leader of the fourth republic from 1999 to 2007.
The former governor stated that Obasanjo’s regime was successful economically due to proper planning, adding that the administration was lucky as price of crude oil jumped up.
He said, “We have a planning commission in Nigeria but it has not been as effective.
“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.”
