BY Taiwo George
President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed one of the issues that has been the talking point since he assumed office exactly one month ago.
Nigerians have been complaining about the delay of the president to form his cabinet and unveil his policy direction.
But speaking on Monday during the inauguration of the national economic council (NEC) at the presidential villa in Abuja, Buhari promised to unveil his economic policies “soon” but did not go into specific details.
He sought the cooperation of governors of the 36 states of the federation in developing the country, advising them to lead by example and ensure that they do not mix politics with development.
“I urge you all to ensure that we surmount these enormous challenges facing us as a country by working to support economic policies, which the government will soon unveil to grow our economy and finance our external promises,” he said.
“I would like also, as a former governor myself to remind us the need for neighbouring states to cooperate closely on projects such as interstate and feeder roads, soil erosion, desertification and other developmental programmes. Our country is one and we who have the responsibility to run it lead by example. As far as is possible there should be distance between politics and development programmes.”
He reiterated his commitment towards developing the country and challenged members of NEC headed by Yemi Osinbanjo, the vice-president, to devise a strategy that would address some of the problems facing the country, particularly that of inability of some states to pay salaries.
Buhari pointed out to the governors that they had an onerous task ahead and challenged them to look at means of boosting their internally generated revenues (IGR) in order not to be solely dependent on federal allocations.
The president noted that it would no longer be business as usual, laying emphasis on integrity and accountability.
“You may recall, that in my inaugural speech, on May 29, 2015 I stated that the primary objective of this administration is to tackle insecurity; youth unemployment, through the revival of agriculture, solid minerals mining, as well as small and medium size businesses. I also highlighted pervasive corruption; fuel and power shortages; public service reforms; and the need to allow every tier of government to exercise its constitutional responsibilities, among others. We are fully committed to embarking on sustainable visionary initiatives and programmes that will restructure and transform our national economy,” he said.
“Your excellencies, it is evident that the task of ensuring growth, job creation and equity, is quite enormous. Consequently, we must kick-start this process by cultivating a culture of prudent management of resources at all levels of government.
“This will entail looking inwards to secure sustainable ways of increasing internally generated revenue (IGR); and harnessing growth potentials of each state to supplement the federation account allocation to states.
“The states are also encouraged to embark on projects that will meet immediate needs of the people taking account of available resources. I therefore urge council members to consider, as a matter of urgency, exploring efficient means of gradually liquidating all unpaid salaries of staff, which have brought untold hardship to thousands of families.
“On its part the federal government will abide by the provisions of sections 80 and 162 of the constitution and ensure more accountability, transparency and integrity in the distribution of the federation account.
“All revenue generating agencies such as Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) amongst others shall comply with stipulated financial regulations and administrative instructions in their remittances into the consolidated revenue fund.”
Governors and selected ministers and the governor of the CBN are members of NEC, which is empowered by section 18 of the 1999 constitution, to advise the president on the necessary measures for coordinating the economic planning efforts and economic programmes of the various governments of the federation.
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