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*Says worrying over funds to finance govt programmes keep her awake at night

Moghalu: Nigeria’s economic crises lies at its constitutional structure 

Nume Ekeghe and Dike Onwuamaeze

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, yesterday, said the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has laid good foundational work for the incoming administration to build on and deliver good governance and prosperity to Nigerians.
Ahmed also disclosed that one major thing that keep her awake at night was how to source revenue to implement crucial programmes of the government, adding that a lot of Nigerians do not think that there is anything wrong about not paying their taxes.

She made this comments while speaking on CNN, during a discussion on “Reforming Nigeria’s Embattled Economy,” that was anchored by CNN Anchor and Correspondent, Ms. Eleni Giokos, which also featured former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu; Chairman, Platform Capital, Dr. Akintoye Akindele and the Founding Partner, Healthcare Capital Africa, Dr. Ola Orekunrin Brown.

The minister said: “It is always good to remember that Buhari’s administration has gone through several crises and still managed to keep the economy growing.
“Just on Wednesday, we released our most current GDP report and the economy has grown at 3.52 per cent. So it’s been very difficult. It’s not the best of times. We have had the worst that could have happened thrown at us during this administration.

“Despite that, we’ve seen growth and we’ve also seen an increase in infrastructure and also an expansion of social programs that impacted the lives of people as well as expansion of investments in education, health, as well as in social investment that is meant to address the most vulnerable segments of our society.”
She added: “On the issue of tax, it is still low compared to our GDP, but the absolute number on the taxes collected is increasing at a rapid rate. For example, in 2021, the total collection of tax was N6 trillion, in 2022 that moved to N10 trillion.

“But again, as has been mentioned, on the fiscal side that there’s a lot that we need to do to reduce the costs of governance because our expenditure is growing faster than the revenues by almost twofold on an annual basis.”
Ahmed also harped on the need to rebuild the social contract between the citizen and the government on a constant basis because the world itself was dynamic, adding that the Buhari’s administration, “has started what whichever government that comes in will continue with and we hope it is the same ruling party so it becomes easier.”

She, however, noted that “revenue shortfalls keep me awake because you need finances to fund salaries, pensions, elections and infrastructure. And we have a massive census also coming up in April. So, in 2023, we have huge expenditures spending in one year, and it keeps me awake at night.
“A lot of Nigerians do not think that there is something wrong in not paying their taxes. Before we had responsible citizens that paid taxes. But since we discovered oil and moved toward a rent state the culture of tax payment just dissipated into the air. But it doesn’t add up and doesn’t work that way. Every citizen has to be a responsible.”

In his contribution, Moghalu, noted that the rate of diversification of the Nigerian economy has not taken place in a manner necessary for rent-seeking to stop.
He argued: “What Nigeria needs is foreign exchange diversification. We need an export-led economy that is driven by complex value added growth across a number of areas to create an inclusive economy.”

He said the next government must work on the fundamental things holding Nigerian back from achieving prosperity for its 200 million citizens.
Moghalu said Nigeria’s economic crises lies at its constitutional structure that makes the central government extremely attractive.
He said: “There are two things the new government that is coming in must do. First, we must increase the supply of our oxygen. And that implies that we must deal with the fiscal crises. That is basic. We must increase our revenue. The second thing is that the next government must address the waste and corruption in governance by bringing in very competent professionals to manage the economy and stop.

“The challenge of the next government is the ability of its leadership to put the right things in place to stop the vested interests and put the people first. And to be very transparent about policies and ensure that critical institutions like the central bank and the judiciary do not become political balls.”

On her part, Brown expressed concern that Nigeria was spending so much on petrol subsidy at the expense of two major pillars of development that are health and education.

She hoped that this might change as the new dispensation might usher in “reforms that we’re talking about from monetary policy to fiscal policy to structural policy.”

However, Akintoye emphasised the fact that nation-building required citizens’ participation and should not be seen as government’s responsibility alone.