State governors under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) have set up a committee to interface with President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic team to complement the Federal Government’s efforts in finding solutions to the country’s present economic downturn.
A three-man committee including the governors of Akwa Ibom, Bauchi and Osun states is to work closely with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who heads the economic management team in considering broader inclusive strategies that will salvage the economy, BusinessDay gathers.
The committee was set up during an emergency meeting called by the forum on Friday, barely 24 hours after President Buhari said at a meeting with his cabinet, heads of agencies as well as experts that it was now time for all concerned to “think out of the box” on how to get the country out of downturn.
Sources privy to the discussions during the meeting held behind closed doors at the State House conference centre, Abuja, told BusinessDay that though the issue of recession was not listed on the agenda, the forum discussed extensively on the matter due to its critical importance.
“The forum decided to nominate three of its members to interface with the Vice President to find solutions to the country’s general economy situation. No specific mandate was given to them, but they are to interface with the Vice President to complement Federal Government’s effort on the economy of the country,” the official said.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populated country and once the largest economy on the continent, slid into recession for the first time in more than 20 years, largely owing to the impact of unstable oil prices and a sharp rise in domestic production cost. Crude oil exports account for over 70 percent of the country’s revenue and over 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings.
Renewed agitation in the Niger Delta has also affected the country’s earnings grossly, reducing state funds even as some states continue to struggle with meeting its salary obligations.
The government authorities have been trying to reassure citizens that they were working out quick wins on the economic downturn, which experts think could last for at least 18 months.
After foot-dragging for over one year in office, the Federal Government appears to have awakened from its slumber and now determined to find cash wherever available and spend the country out of the present tough economic situation.
At an emergency meeting last Thursday, President Buhari indicated his government’s resolve to cash in on resources from Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to augment the scarce resources.
Finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, also said at the weekend that the government had a plan to reflate the Nigerian economy and reposition it, saying “when an economy is in recession, demand goes down because confidence goes down, people don’t have enough money to spend and there’s no enough money circulating in the system.
“What government wants to do is to step in and begin to spend and pushing more money into the economy, and then get things moving again.”
According to Adeosun, one of the sectors that has received the largest amounts has been power, works and housing. Quite a lot has also gone into defence due to the need to rebuild the credibility of the nation’s army to continue in their efforts in the new phase as well as in ministries of interior and transport.
“Agriculture also received significant funding because of the time sensitivity of the sector and because food price was rising and we needed to intervene to make sure that production is increased so that we can get food prices down.
“We are releasing another N350 billion. The focus is going to be similar. There will also be the funding of about N60 billion in the social intervention programme and that’s very important in terms of putting money into people’s pocket,” she said.
