No Nigerian with blood flowing through her vein that won't know that things are difficult - Saraki

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Friday said like ordinary Nigerians, the nation’s leaders were also experiencing hardship occasioned by the economic downturn.

He spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after observing the Jumat prayers with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr. Saraki said there was no Nigerian with blood running in his vein that would not know that things were difficult.

He called on Nigerians to give the president support and believe in their country in order to overcome the economic challenge.

He said, “With prayer Insha Allahu, we will overcome it (economic recession). The most important thing is for us to stay together and give the president support and continue to believe in this great country that we all have and be rest assured that we will all weather the storm and scale through together.

“Once again, as a country in this period, we will continue to pray.

“On Sunday, the day of Arafat, we offer prayer for our leaders and President so that we can do what is right, because we feel the pain. We know what the country is going through, because there is no Nigerian with blood flowing through her vein that will not know that things are difficult now and we pray that with God’s guidance, He will see us through.”

The Senate President said the National Assembly “will continue to play our own role to ensure that things get better.”

The National Bureau of Statistics reported last month that Nigeria’s economy had slipped into recession following negative growth in the first two quarters of 2016.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, confirmed a few days later that the nation was in its worst possible time with the Gross Domestic Product figures for the second quarter showing the economy was in recession.