We’ll Fix Economy Frontally As We Did Corruption, Insecurity – PMB

President Muhammadu Buhari vowed yesterday that his administration will bluntly confront Nigeria’s economic challenges the way it tackled corruption and insecurity head on, with a view to fixing the country’s ailing economy.

He made the declaration when he formally launched Nigeria’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan (ERGP 2017 – 2020) at the presidential villa, Abuja.

The president said, while his administration inherited numerous challenges, the political campaign of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in 2015 was based on the recognition of the difficult situation Nigerians were enmeshed in and the need to bring positive and enduring change to the country.

Accordingly, he reiterated the commitment of his administration to fulfilling its electoral promise to change the old ways of doing things in order to positively change Nigeria for good.

Buhari said, “We are committed to delivering on the three key areas that we promised – That is improving security, tackling corruption and revitalising the economy. Security in the North East, and other parts of Nigeria, is significantly better today than when we came in.

“With regards to our fight against corruption, as you all know, our law enforcement agencies are prosecuting very many cases of corruption. Our successes in these two areas are clear for all to see.

“I want to assure all Nigerians that we are approaching the solution to our economic challenges with the same will and commitment we have demonstrated in the fight against corruption and in the fight against terrorism and militancy”.

President Buhari explained that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan encapsulates all his administration’s sectoral plans for agriculture and food security, energy and transport infrastructure, industrialization and social investments together in a single document.

According to him, the plan builds on the Strategic Implementation Plan and sets out an ambitious roadmap to return the economy to growth as well as to achieve a 7% growth rate by 2020.

His words: “Our aim, simply put, is to optimise local content and empower local businesses. We seek not just to take the Nigerian economy out of recession but to place it on a path of sustained, inclusive and diversified growth.We are determined to change Nigeria from an import dependent country to a producing nation.

“We must become a nation where we grow what we eat and consume what we produce. We must strive to have a strong Naira and productive economy. The Plan I am launching today therefore sets out what we, as Government, are committed to do to create the enabling environment for business to thrive”.

The president who further described the plan as a national plan noted that the role of state governments is critical to its success, even as he appealed to the state governors to draw inspiration and strategic direction from the plan to articulate their economic programmes, particularly in the development of the real sector.

Also calling on all Nigerians to work with the government to ensure they achieve the objectives of the plan, he pointed out that the content of the plan were already familiar to a broad cross-section of Nigerians because it was developed in consultation with a wide group of stakeholders, including the National Assembly, state governments, the business community, labour unions, academia, civil society groups and development partners.

Buhari commended the ministry of Budget and National Planning for successfully coordinating the Plan’s development.

“I also wish to salute the efforts of the Economic Management Team under the leadership of the Vice President for overseeing the drafting of the Plan. I am pleased to present this Economic Recovery and Growth Plan for use by the Nigerian people, our friends and partners and to guide our development efforts over the next four years”, he said.

On his part, Senate President Bukola Saraki said the latest economic plan was a ray of hope for a bright economic future.

In his remarks, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, commended efforts made by the current administration in drawing up an economic roadmap.

Pledging the support of the lower chamber of the National assembly towards the smooth implementation of the plan, Dogara said he was happy that for the first time, the Economic recovery and growth plan which is essentially an exclusive executive document was presented to the National assembly for legislative inputs.

Capping it all, the minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, observed that, while the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan was being formally launched yesterday, its implementation was not starting yesterday.

According to him, this is so because the plan puts together in one place, for easy access, all the sectoral plans that the government had been working on, from inception, including the Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget proposals which were submitted to the National Assembly in December last year.

He said, “The broad objectives of the ERGP are to restore growth, invest in our people and build a globally competitive economy. As our President, has repeatedly said, our aim is to build a self-reliant economy.

“Our aim is to create a culture where Nigeria continuously seek ways to add value to the resources we have been blessed with. In short, our aim is to change Nigeria, and change for good.

“To achieve this, the Plan articulates up to 60 interventions and initiatives that must be executed and/or completed within the next four years to tackle and to remove impediments to growth, to make markets function better and to leverage the power of the private sector”.

Others who attended the launch include Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari; national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, John Odigie-Oyegun; governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and members of the Federal Executive Council.

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