FG sees revenue to GDP rising to 15%

The Federal Government is optimistic that Nigeria’s revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could rise to 15 percent between 2022 and 2025 on the back of the implementation of the 2021-2025 National Development Plan.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday inaugurated the plan whose implementation is expected to boost revenue from the current 7 percent to GDP to 25 percent, according to Clement Agba, minister of state for budget and national planning.

The National Development Plan 2021-2025, succeeds Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on November 10, 2021, and is aimed at boosting the economy through massive investment in infrastructure and strengthening the revenue base of the Nigerian economy from the current 7 percent to GDP, to as high as 15 percent.

The plan also provides a mechanism to engage, empower, and employ Nigeria’s teeming energetic youth, thus helping to reduce unemployment currently hovering around 30 percent following the devastating effect of the COVID-19 global pandemic

Agba while briefing State House journalists after the weekly virtual FEC meeting, revealed, said the “plan has opportunities for inclusiveness for young people, women, people with special needs, and the vulnerable ones, mainstreaming women gender into all aspects of our social, economic and political activities. This plan also has a financing plan to increase revenue to 15 percent of GDP.”

For the first time in Nigeria’s development, the plan also gives priority to the sports business, separating youth development from sports.

“We have three volumes of the plan. In the past, we have always had one volume, which is the plan itself. But this time, we have three volumes. Volume One is the main plan, and that’s what will be accessible to the public. Volume Two is the prioritised and sequential list of programmes and projects that will be fed into the annual budgets, while Volume Three is the legislative imperatives.”

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The third volume, according to BusinessDay source, deals with “laws or policies that impede the private sector from being the main driver of the economy. And so, laws have been identified that need to be reviewed or changed. Policies have also been identified that need to be worked upon.

The government said Volume Two and Volume Three are not for the public, but essentially for the government to see what they need to do.

Another difference between this plan and the previous plan is the issue of Integrated Rural Development, as the plan takes rural development away from agric.

It looks at how to bring in different levels of infrastructure to the rural areas with a view to discouraging rural-urban migration and ensuring that broadband technology gets to the rural areas, and that power supply, even if it’s an upgrade, it’s within the rural areas.

Agba revealed that the plan has a strong implementation framework, even as frameworks for monitoring and evaluation are embedded, as it takes into cognizance, vertical, lateral and horizontal coordination.

Also speaking on behalf of his colleagues, shortly after the launch of the document on Wednesday, Kebbi State governor, Atiku Bagudu, described the document as “all-inclusive” adding that it would help the country consolidate on the gains of previous ones.

“Well, let me just clarify that I’m here to represent the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, who was unavoidably absent. And we congratulate the President for launching the 2021-2025 Development Plan.

“We have an economic recovery growth plan that expired last year, which has achieved the objective of, among others, helping Nigeria exit twice from recession. And now we have a plan in place for 2021-2025 that is further aimed principally at ensuring that the gains have been consolidated and Nigerians are being continuously included.

The council also approved a memo for the execution of two contracts for Gashua Water Supply Project (phase 2) in Yobe State, (Lot A) in the sum of N1.27 billion and Lot B for N2.24 billion.

Essentially, one lot is for extension, the water supply service to Zango and Sabongeri Lamido, comprising of battery, boreholes, submersible pump, solar panels and so on and the other contract is for the upgrading of the existing waterworks, which also includes rehabilitation of some elevated tanks, provision of potable water treatment plants and a host of other ancillary facilities.

The contract is for a period of 18 months and essentially, this contract was awarded to address the acute water supply situation in Gashua, which is well within the Sahelian region and also because in recent years there has been some prevalence of kidney diseases and kidney failures and a quick intervention was required so that we’ll be able to address this situation.

In the interim, the National Water Resources Institute under my ministry is conducting an investigation as to why this high prevalence of kidney disease in the area. So, council graciously approved these two contracts.