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President Muhammadu Buhari
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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.
TheCable report continues:
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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