Buhari lists achievements on economy, others as administration marks 5th anniversary

The presidency on Thursday rolled out a long list of President Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements in various facets of Nigerian life in the last five years.

Buhari, who came to power on May 29, 2015 for a first four-year term, won a second four-year in 2019 and was sworn in again on May 29, 2019. Today marks the end of the first year of his second four-year term and the fifth year of the government in office.

“Between May 29, 2015, when it was inaugurated for the first term, and now, the Buhari administration has made salutary impact in almost all the facets of Nigerian life,” Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said in a statement titled ‘President Buhari’s Strides in Five Years, by Presidency’.

Among numerous achievements listed, the statements said the economy, long dependent on a mono product – petroleum – is being retooled, refocused, with diversification as a task that must be accomplished”.

“Agriculture has been given a fillip, manufacturing has got a shot in the arm, and solid minerals are contributing a large chunk to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The country is very close to food security, with rice, beans, maize, millet, and all sorts of grain no longer imported. We now eat what we grow,” Adesina said in the statement.

In an attached five-year fact sheet of the Buhari administration, the presidency said that the work of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (inaugurated by President Buhari in August 2016) and the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) has resulted in Nigeria moving up 39 places on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings since 2016. In the last three years, Nigeria has twice been adjudged one of 10 Most Improved Economies in the rankings, it said.

BusinessDay checks show Nigerian ranked 170 on World Bank’s ease of doing business 2016 (for 2015) and the country ranked 131 in the 2020 report (for 2019). This is an improvement by 39 places.

Nigeria was among top 10 performers in 2019 and 2017 rankings, which can be found in 2020 and 2018 reports.

For Doing Business 2020, the 10 top improvers are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, India and Nigeria. For 2018, the top 10 are El Salvador, Djibouti, India, Malawi, Brunei Darussalam, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Zambia and Nigeria.

The document also said the Finance Act, 2019 is the first time Nigeria is accompanying the passage of a budget with complementary fiscal and business environment reforms legislation. The 2020 budget is also the first time in 12 years that a federal budget has been restored to the January-December cycle.

Our checks show the last time Nigeria had a Jan-Dec budget cycle was 12 years ago. However, the passage of budget accompanied by a Finance Act is new only since transition to civilian rule in 1999.

Another achievement of the Buhari administration, according to the document, is the Renminbi-Naira Swap Agreement between the Peoples Bank of China and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

On April 27, 2018, the CBN signed a three-year bilateral currency swap agreement with the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC), worth Chinese Yuan (CNY) 15 billon – equivalent to N720.00 billion or US$2.5 billion.

The currency swap deal with People’s Bank of China (PBoC) was signed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to enable “bilateral trade and direct investment, and safeguarding financial market stability in both countries”, BusinessDay finds. It was for a three-year period with the option of renewal by both parties.

Other achievements of the Buhari administration, according to the document, include the issuance of Nigeria’s first Diaspora bond in the international capital market, a US$300 million bond with a tenor of five years which proceeds were used to part-finance the 2017 budget. The bond was oversubscribed by 130 percent.

It also listed CBN’s policies and directives, which led to the fall of Treasury Bill rates – which represent domestic borrowing costs for the Government –from 16-18 percent per annum in 2017 to 2-6 percent per annum in 2019/2020.

Last year, CBN banned non-bank local investors from the OMO market, which caused rate on NTBs to fall significantly lower than OMO bills effectively lowering domestic borrowing cost for FG.