Reps. propose joint National Assembly session with Buhari over recession

As part of efforts geared towards cushioning the effects of the recession which the country is currently facing, the House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Federal Government to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission (NPC) to review the existing monetary policy with a view to developing sustainable lending rates and an environment that will foster real sector growth to enhance economic development.
The lawmakers also tasked President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to take steps to resuscitate comatose government owned industries which will generate employment, provide raw materials for local producers and preserve scarce foreign exchange.
In the bid to ensure effective coordination of various measures being taken to bring the economy out of recession, the House resolved to liaise with the Senate to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly where they will deliberate on how to get the country out of the current economic recession.
While expressing concerns over the collapse of critical industries in the nation’s economy including: that industries such as the steel rolling mills, paper mills, aviation and textile industries, the house noted that these institutions which are supposed to earn foreign exchange have become moribund.
The House during the robust debate on the motion on ‘urgent need to address the economic downturn in Nigeria,’ sponsored by Mukaila Kazzim, also stressed the need for the Federal Government to develop policies that will be attractive to private investment for the commercial exploration of solid minerals and also pay attention to non-oil sector ventures such as tourism, automobile industry, information technology, among others, in line with the policy on diversification of the nation’s economy.
To this end, the House mandated its joint Committees on Banking and Currency, Finance and National Planning and Economic Development to ensure compliance, and report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.
Some of the lawmakers who spoke in favour of the motion are: Leo Ogor, Minority Leader; Tajudeen Yusuf, chairman, House Committee on capital market and Haruna Goni.
In his lead debate, Mukaila observed that due to the crash of crude oil prices from over $120 per barrel in the last quarter of 2014 to about $45 presently, Nigeria has been witnessing a dramatic reduction in oil earnings, which has impacted negatively on revenues available to finance expenditure, as a result, the foreign reserves had been depleted to bridge the gap.
He lamented that the loss of confidence in the nation’s economy has led to increase in the rate of outflow of businesses worth over N4 trillion following declining oil revenues and the devaluation of the naira.
Expressing displeasure with the unprecedented level of youth unemployment of which he described as about 70%, the lawmaker lamented that the bank lending rate of between 25-30% per annum and other hidden charges are discouraging borrowers, especially the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) which has capacity to absorb millions of Nigerian youths.
Mukaila who noted that such monetary policy are counterproductive for meaningful economic growth, recalled that “the economic downturn that is looming in the country which was predicted in 2014 by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) based on the aforementioned events, coupled with declining foreign reserves and rising external debts which, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) now hovers around $10 billion from $3.5 billion nine years ago.”
He also noted that critical stakeholders in the economy including Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) have condemned the high interests charged by banks adding that the CBN’s foreign exchange policy has created more problems for the real sector and fuelled cost production increases, since the apex bank made access to foreign exchange more difficult for importation of raw materials by genuine users and coupled with the weak naira.
In his contribution, Leo Ogor (PDP-Delta) who accused Nigerians political leaders of paying lip-service to the diversification campaign, frowned at the inconsistency in policies and loss of confidence in the nation’s economy which has led to increase in the rate of outflow of businesses to neighboring countries.
“We have been paying lip service to the concept of diversification our ministers came here nobody was able to look at the challenges in line with the volume of mineral resources we have as a nation.
“Where will we get the level of specialization from when everybody is interested in oil? Today the price of oil has dropped, I think we have vast land for agriculture. We have mineral resources in every part of the country but nobody is looking at them because there is lack of specialization. I think Federal Government has carried responsibility that is not supposed to be carrying,” Ogor said.

Ogor emphaised the need for the National Assembly to review the Exclusive-Legislative list and divest some of the powers to the States and various Local Governments in the bid to address issues of diversification.
Ogor said that the current economic crisis was man-made added that lack of clear cut policies dragged the country into recession.
“The major cause of this problem is the foreign exchange policy. There used to be inflow of funds from Nigerians in diaspora and investors. Bank policies which restricted payment and withdrawal of funds from domiciliary accounts created panic among investors, leading to withdrawal of their money from the country,” Ogor added.
On his part, Tajudeen Yusuf (PDP-Kogi) who noted that the restrictions on forex crippled the ability of manufacturers to pay for materials to boost local manufacturing however stressed the need to reconcile dollar rates in the country.

Also speaking, Haruna Goni (Yobe-APC) outlined the return to agriculture as mainstay of economy, review of land policies and lending rate to boost agriculture as a way out of the recession.
“There is also need for timely supply of agricultural materials like seeds, fertilizers and equipment if diversification into agriculture will be actualized,” Goni said.