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The admission by Mr. President that “many Nigerians are poor and are anxiously hoping for a better life” is a welcome departure from the views erroneously held and conveyed by some of his ministers and party loyalists. Nigerians are, however, hopeful that the members of the new Federal Executive Council will do the needful and urgently too to meet the basic needs of Nigerians, which include but not limited to security, electricity, good economy, jobs and good governance
By Anayo Ezugwu
WHEN President Muhammadu Buhari included the names of some of his former ministers as ministerial nominees, many analysts knew that most of them will retain their previous portfolios. And on Wednesday, August 21, the President proved them right after all.
From minister of finance; education; labour and employment; information and culture; water resources; Federal Capital territory; justice, transportation, aviation and science and technology, all retained their former portfolios except power, works and housing that was broken into two. These ministers have been tasked by the president to reposition the country and put it on the part of growth.
Buhari said on Tuesday, August 20, at the end of the presidential retreat that many Nigerians are poor and are anxiously hoping for a better life. “Nigerians want a country in which they do not have to worry about what they will eat, where they will live or if they can afford to pay for their children’s education or healthcare. Our responsibility as leaders of this great country is to meet these basic needs for our people,” he said.
But the chunk of this responsibility falls on the minister of finance, who is expected to design the fiscal policies that will drive the economy. The biggest task ahead of Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, is how to revive the economy and propel economic growth.
Incidentally, on assumption of office on Wednesday, August 21, Ahmed acknowledged that the nation’s economy is in crisis. She also warned that the nation must increase revenue generation if the economy is to be revived. But she promised to deliver on the mandate given to her to improve on the nation’s economy.
According to her, the nation is still facing some fiscal crisis and it is the responsibility of all staff of the ministry to ensure the situation is arrested to avoid slipping into a full blown crisis. “We have been growing in eight consecutive quarters, but it is a growth that is still fragile, revenues have grown but they are still behind on what we have projected. So, I want to urge you that the good work you have done in the past should be re-doubled because the task is now double.”
Her acknowledgement is an indication that much needs to done to return the economy on the part of growth. Available data indicate that the economy needs policy direction to avert another recession in 2020. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, grew by 2.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 against 2.38 percent recorded in the last quarter of 2018.
The data also points to the fact that the economic growth rate is shrinking when compared to the population growth rate at 2.6 percent in 2018. Likewise, the growth recorded so far this year is also in shortfall with the projections of International Monetary Fund, IMF, 2.3 percent and World Bank 2.2 percent growth rate.
Apart from fixing the economy, Ahmed must also address the challenges of late budget preparation/passage, poor implementation of fiscal plans and delay in budget releases to the ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs. Also ensure implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP.
It could be recalled that the minister launched the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative, SRGI, to drive revenue mobilisation before the end of her first term appointment. But the impact is yet to be seen on how such initiative will bridge the revenue gap. Experts believe that Ahmed will deliver on the mandate of the administration.
For Saleh Mamman, minister of power, fixing the sector and ensuring steady power supply across the country, is a huge task. One of his first tasks would be to ensure full implementation of the Meter Asset Provider, MAP, scheme in order to end estimated billing system.
He is also expected to fix the national grid, which collapses at will. According to the Discos, the collapses occurred nine times so far this year as a result of poor protection of transmission infrastructure by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN.
Mamman’s counterpart Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, job won’t be easy as he would have to deal with the policy inconsistencies in the industry. He would need to map out strategies for securing the consensus required for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, which many industry watchers say holds the key to unlocking the great opportunities that abound in the sector.
Sylva will be deputising for President Buhari, who is the substantive minister. The duo has a hard task ahead managing a ministry that is central to the economic survival of the nation and in resolving the uncertainty and paucity of investment. About 90 percent of the nation’s foreign revenue is from oil sales and ensuring efficiency and transparency in running the oil sector has always been a sore point in Nigeria.
With the enormous challenges before the new ministers, some Nigerians believe that they have the required experience and exposure to put Nigeria on the world map again. Pita Adori, economic analyst, said Ahmed is expected to understand the challenges before her as someone who has been in the ministry before. He expected Ahmed to ensure fiscal policy stability to align with the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
“Well, she has been there as minister of finance after serving as minister of state for budget and planning. So I expect her to understand the economy and know what to do. She is an accountant by training, but I will still prefer an economist for that position. Yes, she has what it takes to manage the economy, her few stay as minister of finance witnessed a steady progress in the economy,” he said.
Tunji Ajibade, policy analyst, said Ahmed will bring innovation and new ideas into public service. He said one other benefit that anyone with Ahmed’s background brings is the opportunity to operate a transparent and unencumbered administration. “Regarding the things Ahmed did in her first term in office, I once stated that for me, even if a government does nothing else, once it ensures that leakages of public funds into the hands of treasury looters are curtailed, such a government is an achiever.
Ahmed has worked towards that, meaning she’s adding value to how this nation is run. She couldn’t have done otherwise because she came from NEITI where she used to announce to Nigerians what government should get as revenue from the extractive industry that government agencies concerned didn’t remit. We need more of her kind in government,he said.
But Igbini Emmanuel, national president, Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy, faulted Buhari’s decision to merge ministry of finance with the ministry of budget and national planning. He argued that the merger would place more burden on the minister in charge and might lead to loss of focus.
He lauded the President’s unbundling of the ministry of power, works and housing. “While we appreciate his (Buhari’s) unbundling of ministries of power, works and housing, we are, however, disappointed that he now merged ministry of budget and national planning with the ministry of finance.
“This will create more burden on the minister of finance and give room for loss of focus, abuses and corruption. We demand that he reverses to the existing status and appoint a substantive minister of budget and national planning,” he said.
Emmanuel lauded Buhari for retaining the ministry of petroleum resources. He, however, asked the president to justify his decision to remain in charge of the ministry by sanitising the petroleum sector.
He urged him to, among other things see to a reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products. “We also hasten to remind President Buhari that Nigerians look forward to him as minister of petroleum resources and an anti-corruption crusader to bring urgent sanity to the petroleum sector and cause immediate downward review of prices of petroleum products and get our nation’s refineries fully operational to their maximum design capacities.
“He is fully in charge and can no longer blame anyone if the corruption, looting and inefficiency in this sector continue. We also want to commend him for appointing some ministers into ministries they have professional competence, experience and proven passion for.
“One of such appointments is that of Mr. Keyamo Festus SAN, who for the past two decades has been with us in the peaceful campaigns for economic and environmental justice and infrastructural development of the Niger Delta region.”
Emmanuel argued that the decision of the president to retain the petroleum ministry is in line with Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. He said the ball was in the court of the National Assembly to without fear or favour, invoke its full constitutional powers of oversight to regularly invite Buhari as minister of petroleum resources to give reports of situations in the sector and to answer any query raised.
He also faulted a situation where he said some states were still denied their equal constitutional rights to produce substantive ministers. This, he argued, is a gross violation of Section 147 of the constitution, reiterating that the positions of ministers of state do not exist in the constitution.
As the ministers begin work in earnest, they must show a sense of urgency in addressing the mirage of challenges facing the country. Nigerians also want secured environment to go about their daily living. They also desire improvement in social amenities like electricity supply, potable water, health facilities and every other good thing life can offer.
– Aug. 23, 2019 @ 18:45 GMT |
Tags: Next Level: Challenges before the new ministers
