Babatunde Fashola, the immediate past minister of works and housing, has said there are no totally free market economies in the world, adding that the idea is “illusionary”.

Fashola, on Wednesday, said this while speaking at the 36th edition of The Platform Nigeria held in Lagos with the “Democracy and the Free Market Economy”.

The event, organised by the Covenant Place, seeks to commemorate Nigeria’s Democracy Day by discussing issues surrounding its efficiency.

Fashola stressed that the thoughts of allowing market forces to determine the economy have consequential effects which would eventually lead to the government stepping in.

“Free market economy is illusionary, government plays a role in ensuring that certain businesses don’t go insolvent,” Fashola said.

The two-time governor of Lagos State said that rice and petrol were cheaper in years back due to certain interventions by the government, asserting that such shouldn’t happened in a free market economy.

Speaking further, Fashola said developed economies such as the USA and UK after the wake of the COVID-19 had to incentivise their people to cushion its effects, claiming that such derides the idea of a free market.

A free market economy is a system where the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers and producers interact freely without government intervention.

In theory, it promotes competition, innovation, and efficiency but the former governor questioned whether truly or not it’s really practiced.