Ahmad Lawan says Nigerian economy is not in bad shape despite negative growth- The Senate president, Ahmad Lawan has said the Nigerian economy is not doing badly despite having witnessed a contraction - Lawan made the statement Thursday, August 27, at the end of the council of state meeting - The Senate president said the Nigerian economy did better than other stronger and developed economies PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! The Senate president, Ahmad Lawan has said the Nigerian economy is not doing badly despite having witnessed a contraction of -6.10% in the second quarter of 2020. He made the statement Thursday, August 27, at the end of the council of state meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari. Lawan who cited an economic report from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that the Nigerian economy is not doing badly when compared to more robust economies like the USA and Germany, who have recorded significant economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read also Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello He said Nigeria did far better than other stronger and developed economies. “We have tried to put in what we can, but I think the secret here is we have been able to sustain what we are doing even with lesser resources, but I think -6, as reported by the NBS, that’s the downwards turn in our GDP," he said. "Ordinarily we shouldn’t be happy with it, but in the current circumstance where every country is experiencing this kind of thing, South Africa, the second-largest economy in Africa, is experiencing worse.” In another report, the Nigerian presidency has said that the nation's negative economic growth wasn't as bad as expected following the release of the NBS second-quarter report. This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday, August 26, by Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity. The presidency applauding itself in reaction to the report explained that though Nigeria’s economy contracted by -6.10% in the second quarter of 2020, it was, however, better than the projected forecast of -7.24% as estimated by the NBS. Read also Elections 2019: List of 14 battleground states that may be won and lost by Buhari and Atiku In another report, despite the mass production of rice by farmers in Kano, residents have lamented the high cost of the staple food in the state as it is gradually becoming unaffordable to the common man. According to Daily Trust, rice merchants attributed the recent high cost to the introduction of middlemen in the business and a hike in the price of paddy as well. A market survey showed that a bag of locally milled rice which cost N16,000 as at January 2020 is now sold between N22,000 to N24,000 per 50kg. A bag of paddy now goes for N16,000 as against the N9,500 price back in January. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app Laolu Akande Speaks on How Presidency is Tackling Economy | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - The Senate president, Ahmad Lawan has said the Nigerian economy is not doing badly despite having witnessed a contraction - Lawan made the statement Thursday, August 27, at the end of the council of state meeting - The Senate president said the Nigerian economy did better than other stronger and developed economies PAY ATTENTION: PAY ATTENTION: