By JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU & JOSEPH ERUNKE
ABUJA – As controversies continue to trail the state of the nation’s following allegation by the splinter group of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Ita Enang, has said that if there was any problem with the economy as being alleged, both the executive and the legislature should all take the blame.

Senator Enang who represents Akwa Ibom North East on the platform of the PDP, posited that all political parties who have their representatives in government at the national level would not exonerate themselves from any possible failure of the economy.

He reasoned that since President Jonathan always take any decision on major economic issues to the National Assembly, which he noted, comprised representatives of different political parties in the country, he alone cannot be held responsible.

According to him, it is the National Assembly that always gives the president approval to carry out implementation of economic policies.

Enang advised those who he said were bent on running the federal government down because of their political differences, to resolve their disagreement within the party machinery.

Also speaking, Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, Odion Ugbesia, however disagreed  with those alleging that the nation’s economy was facing bad time, insisting that rather, it had fared better than it was before the present federal administration.

Ugbesia, PDP, Edo Central, said: “I don’t agree that the economy is bad. The economy is as it should be. It is better than what it was many years ago. Look at the standard of living, look at the infrastructural development, all of these put together, you cannot say that the economy is bad, it may not have been as people would have expected.”

On his part, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Enyinaya Abaribe, said the upper legislative chamber would reserve its comment on the issue pending outcome of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, which was referred to the Committee on Finance and Appropriation.

He said: “Why do you want the Senate to react to a reported speech from somebody else, you would have known that as at Thursday, the Medium Term Economic Framework that was sent by the government which gave a breakdown on how the whole economy is, was referred by the Senate to the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, so that they can give us their own information on what it is before we make an informed comment.

“So, if that is the case, it means that you have to wait until we debate it when that informed comment has come back. Meanwhile, anything I say now cannot be the Senate position and I can only give you the Senate position.”