Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said the biggest challenge of the present administration was the economy.

Osinbajo said this in a broadcast to celebrate Democracy Day and second anniversary of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

He said the government was aware of sacrifices made by Nigerians in the harsh economy, while stating that it is taking every effort to tackle the economic recession.

He said, “ Admittedly, the economy has proven to be the biggest challenge of all. Let me first express just how concerned we have been, since this administration took office, about the impact of the economic difficulties on our citizens.

“Through no fault of theirs, some companies shut down their operations, others downsized; people lost jobs, had to endure rising food prices.

“In some states, civil servants worked months on end without the guarantee of a salary, even as rents and school fees and other expenses continued to show up like clockwork.

“We have been extremely mindful of the many sacrifices that you have had to make over the last few years. And for this reason this administration’s work on the economic front has been targeted at a combination of short-term interventions to cushion the pain, as well as medium to long term efforts aimed at rebuilding an economy that is no longer helplessly dependent on the price of crude oil.

“Those short-term interventions include putting together a series of bailout packages for our State Governments, to enable them bridge their salary shortfalls – an issue the President has consistently expressed his concerns about. We also began the hard work of laying out a framework for our Social Intervention Programme, the most ambitious in the history of the country.”

Azeez