Daily News  :: West Africa

Abuja - With less than five months to the end of his tenure, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, insisted Monday his administration's economic reforms had come to stay.

Speaking on "Nigeria's Economic Future: What Lies Ahead?" at a Business Round table in Abuja, he said the worst fears over the sustainability of the reforms had gone, given the foundation laid by the outgoing government.

Obasanjo said the foundation would ensure that the incoming administration remained committed to the reforms, citing pending fiscal responsibility, procurement commission, and tax reforms bills, as measures designed to "anchor some aspects of the reforms in law."

He said the majority of Nigerians had accepted that the comprehensive reforms "are an imperative and nobody can say to hell with them," adding that the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) had also embraced the reforms.

Obasanjo said although the country was "not there yet" as the reforms still required deepening, the "hope for Nigeria is high and will remain high."

"Nigeria was going the opposite direction of development in the past, but now that we are on the right track, we will not only catch up but also overtake," he stressed. -panapress