Senator Bukola
Saraki, the president of the Senate added a voice of urgency to the
financial situation of the country, in his opening speech, setting a 9-point agenda to tackle the recession that is manifesting in untold hardship on Nigerians.
The Nigerian Senate resumed plenary on
Tuesday, September 20, 2016 after two months recess and while the
National Assembly was on recess, it was announced that Nigeria’s economy was in a deep recession with inflations reaching a record high of over 19%.
“It is clear to me that when people are
desperately hungry, what they need is leadership with a clear vision;
leadership whose daily actions reflects the very urgency of the people’s
condition,” Dr. Saraki said.
1. He said that the FG needs to instill
market confidence by immediately putting in place “leadership-level
engagement platform with the private sector. This must be one that is
pro-business and shows unequivocally that government is ready to partner
with the private sector towards economic revival.”
2. Echoing the views of Africa’s richest
man, Aliko Dangote, in a recent interview, Saraki said the executive
needs to raise capital from asset sales and other sources to shore up
foreign reserves, calm investors, discourage currency speculation and
stabilize the economy.
“The measures should include part sale
of NLNG Holdings; reduction of government share in upstream oil joint
venture operations; sale of government stake in financial institutions
e.g. Africa Finance Corporation; and the privatization and concession of
major/regional airports and refineries,” he said.
3. Saraki asked the executive to
consider tweaking the pension funds policy to accommodate investment in
infrastructure and mortgages. That is a view which was well received
when it was suggested by the minister of power, works and housing,
Babatunde Fashola, in a speech last January.
4. “The Executive and CBN must agree on a
policy of monetary easing to stimulate the economy and harmonise
monetary and fiscal policy until economic recovery is attained. We must
ensure local government borrowing does not crowd out credit for the
private sector,” Saraki said.
5. He also said the export promotion
policy scheme should be retooled with export incentives such as the
resumption of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG); and introduce
export-financing initiatives.
6. Saraki advocated for dialogue with
“those aggrieved in the Niger Delta” and “avoid an escalation of the
conflict in the region.”
7. “The Executive must as a deliberate
response consider immediate release of funds to ensure the
implementation of the budget for the near short term to inject money
into the economy,” he said.
8. He also called for support for the
agricultural sector and the agro-allied businesses to boost value
addition and job creation.
9. Finally, he said the executive needs
to devise immediate strategies to ease the suffering of the ordinary
people across our country, with particular attention to citizens in IDP
camps. “The images emerging from this zone of deprivation and hunger is
no longer acceptable. Government should accelerate interim measures to
provide social safety-nets to our people and assuage current high levels
of misery in the land. Such intervention should seek to fully execute
the social spending framework already provided in the 2016 budget,” he
said.
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