The Nation Is Dying
Economically - CSOs Warn Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has
been warned by a coalition of over 60 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) of an
impending death of the Nigerian economy.
President
Buhari has been warned of a decline in economic growth within the country.
The CSOs decried what they termed “steady and
continuous decline of the Nigerian economy” under the watch of President
Buhari.
The call was made on Wednesday, 0ctober 28, at a strategy meeting they held in Abuja under the aegis of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.
Members of the coalition include: Policy and
Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC), CLEEN Foundation, Action Aid Nigeria, Centre for
Democracy and Development (CDD), Enough is Enough Nigeria, Wangonet, Partners
for Electoral Reform, JDPC and Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth &
Advancement (YIAGA).
Others include: Development Dynamics, Human Rights
Monitor, Election Monitor, Reclaim Naija, Institute for Human Rights and
Humanitarian Law, Centre LSD, CITAD, Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN),
CISLAC, WREP and Proactive Gender Initiative.
At the meeting, the groups said there was an urgent
need for President Buhari to create a sustainable economic plan that will attract
foreign investors into the country.
Mr Clement Nwankwo, the leader of
the coalition and executive director of PLAC, in his opening remarks, said the
“dwindling economic fortunes of Nigeria” could be a function of the inability
of President Buhari to appoint his Ministers six months after he assumed office.
Nwankwo said: “The major challenge we are
currently facing is that we cannot see the urgency of this administration to improve the situation. It was unfortunate
that after the six months that it took to come up with list of proposed
Ministers, those we saw are those that have always been around the hood.
“Why it took so long to forward their names to the
National Assembly is quite a puzzle to us.
“Why Ministers
who have been cleared have not been sworn in is also a puzzle to us. We are
almost in the first week of November. The laws are clear that government should
have submitted its budget projections for 2016 by now.
“We would have thought that Ministers would have been
around to help finalise budget for presentation to the National Assembly.
“Everyday we hear on social media that some people
have returned money they stole from the treasury. The government should do well
by telling us who they are, the amount returned and since the money is
unanticipated, we should be told what it will be used for.
“So much information and misinformation is a major
worry for us. We are desperately concerned to see the government begin to
function”.
Vanguard reports that Nwankwo also faulted the current
foreign exchange regime operating in the country, saying: “a person who
is attune with modern day economics cannot recommend such”.
“We want to see change reflect in proper understanding of the Nigerian economy,” he said.
In the same vein, Dr Ayo Teriba, the chief executive
officer of Economic Associates, noted in a paper entitled ‘Towards a Policy
Framework For Economic Inclusion in Nigeria”, that President Buhari inherited
so many economic problems from the past administration.
He however, maintained that “this regime
should be quick, wake up and address the problems”.
He said: “Using six months just to share
portfolios is not how to go about it. Currently, there is fiscal
disconnect. The revenue of the government has declined, relative to the Gross
Domestic Product.
“Nigeria has the highest economy, yet the lowest
revenue. The revenue has steadily declined. The revenue to GDP in 2014 was 11%,
while 25% is what non oil producing economies like South Africa, Egypt and Morocco, have. Other countries like Angola and Algeria that
have oil, have higher revenue level of 33%.
“Nigeria should have about 40% like it use to have in
2004. The reason for the decline is not that revenue are not collected, but the
leak-out from government processes, e.g, crude
oil theft, subsidy fraud, wide spread abuse of administration of import duty
and tax waivers, abuses by autonomous income revenue collecting agencies that
spend what they collect as they wish, only remitting about 80% to the Federal
Government.
“There is also the issue of sectorial and regional exclusion. We currently have one of the worst
unemployment rate in Africa. Our economy today compared to 1960 is weaker.
Nigeria needs an orderly plan to raise revenue. There is need for this administration to not
only stop the leakages, but to also institute periodic watch on impact of
fiscal reforms on revenue inflows.
“The new regime
should have told us the situation they met at least by May, and what has
changed within the first quarter since it took over. It should tell us if there
is no more crude oil theft.
“Currently Nigeria has not been attracting foreign
investment, we urge this administration to make the economy more attractive.
Steady currency regime is required to spur growth”, he buttressed.
There has been questions regarding President Buhari’s
stand on the establishment of a ministry for economy.
In a bid to still the dusts
stirred, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday, October 28 disclosed that Buhari would not name any minister for the economic sphere.
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Source: Naij.com
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