BY VICTORIA ONU, ABUJA
The Federal Government, on Monday, said it will unveil the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021 to 2025 in October.
The plan, which is aimed at lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty, and ensuring economic stability, development and good governance, would come 10 months after the expiration of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020).
The strategic objectives of the ERGP, launched by the government in 2017, included restoring growth, investing in people, and building a competitive economy.
It also targeted a seven per cent GDP growth rate by 2020, driven by strong non-oil sector growth anchored by agriculture and food security energy, transportation and industrialization.
Other focus of the ERGP includes optimizing the delivery of, at least, 10 GW of operational capacity by 2020 and improving the energy mix through greater use of renewable energy.
However, the Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, stated that the succession plan was being reviewed by different stakeholders.
This, according to him, is the reason for the delay in unveiling the plan, which replaces the ERGP (2017 to 2020) that lapsed in December 2020.
Agba, in a speech at a capacity building workshop for Special Advisors and Technical Assistants of the ministers of Nigeria organised by the Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung, in Abuja, said, “After review of the plan, it would be taken to the National Steering Committee, the National Economic Council, and the Federal Executive Council before it would be launched.
“Last year, we worked on two main areas that forms the framework for the budget itself; which is the macro-economic framework which needed the input of some critical stakeholders. So, that has since been ready and it is the foundation for the rest of the segments of the plan.
“Everything is in place; we believe that it is better late than never. We want to avoid a lot of the mistakes that were made in the past. There were some critical stakeholders who needed to give us some information that were not readily available. We had to wait to get all of those.
“We are targeting that it shouldn’t go beyond October, if possible, we would like to launch it October 1st or otherwise within October.”
The Minister also said that the National Agenda 2050 is underway to replace the outgone vision 20:2020.
He noted that the plans were anchored on the government’s desire to address the prevalence of poverty by lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
He said given that at current growth rate, the country would hit the 411 million mark and become the third most populous country in the world by 2050, after China and India, these plans would ensure economic stability, national development and good governance.
According to him, unlike previous plans, the on-going plans have been inclusive and participatory, involving not only state actors but the Organized Private Sector, Civil Society Organizations, Women and Youth groups, including People with Special Needs.
Decring the poor execution of public projects across the country, Agba said that government was developing an application that would enable citizens monitor the execution of projects in their localities.
This, according to him, is in addition to the portal that enables citizens monitor budgetary processes. He added that the ministry had institutionalized its monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure improved service delivery.
“We want citizens to be engaged in this budgetary process and its implementation and give us feedback on whether the project is good or not, or sometimes whether the projects are being carried out.
“We have seen cases where there have been reports that world class bridges have been built. But, we see pictures of wooden bridges in different parts and it is for this reason that we want Nigerians themselves to monitor and tell us what they see so that appropriate actions can be taken. The App will enable Nigerians post pictures of projects status vis-a-vis the cash released.
“The app will be ready before the end of next year, so we can use it for 2022 budget,” Agba said.
Vladimir Kreck, resident representative of KAS in his welcome address, said that the capacity building workshop was part of KAS’s efforts to promote good governance in Nigeria.
He said that KAS had been building the capacity of the National Assembly and 13 state House assemblies, which include Plateau, Cross River, Ogun, Oyo, Enugu, Delta, Abia, Rivera, Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Benue, Ondo, and Lagos.
