Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), has advised the Federal Government to incorporate constituencies in the implementation of the just inaugurated Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017 to 2020.
Dr Olusanya Olubusoye, the 2nd Vice-President of NSA, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
The ERGP’s projected the Nigeria will make significant progress to achieve structural economic change with a more diversified and inclusive economy in five key areas by 2020.
The key areas are stable macro-economic environment, agricultural transformation, food security, sufficiency in energy and improved transportation infrastructure.
Olubusoye said that the government should fill the gaps in ERGP to enhance its effective implementation.
He said that the ERGP as a top to bottom plan did not take into considering the constituencies since they did not play any role in its implementation.
He said that Nigeria as federation with 36 states and 774 local government areas needed to incorporate both states and local governments into the plan for effective implementation.
Olubusoye said that Lagos State being the 7th largest in Africa, should have a key role to play in the ERGP implementation.
“How can you grow the Nigerian economy by seven per cent in a plan that does not assign any role for states like Lagos, Rivers, Kano, Akwa Ibom and Kaduna?
“Are these states not part of the plan to grow Nigerian economy, how realistic will it be? Lagos Gross Domestic Product (DGP) for 2014 stood at 90 billion (about 15 per cent of Nigeria GDP).
“The same year, the GDP for Nigeria was 573 billion, so after Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Lagos economy is the next.
“So, if these states with their constituencies are not taken along, then all the 774 local governments will not be part of it, how realist is such a plan,’’ he said.
Olubusoye said that Federation Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) formula also emphasised on the size of constituencies, adding that federal is 52 per cent; state and local government is about 48 per cent.
“This means state and local government economies put together are almost half of what the Federal Government is controlling.
“How can this plan be driven alone by the Federal Government without the involvement of these other tiers of government?
“Can a plan solely conceived and packaged by the Federal Government succeed?’’
The official also observed that the inauguration of the plan was too close to the election year.
He said that the success of the plan might be jeopardised by political campaigns.
He said that as soon as a new government was elected, it would probably jettison the plan since it had been the trend in the country.
Olubusoye, however, commended the efforts of the government for coming up with ERGP, saying “it is better late than not having one at all’’. (NAN)
CIA/KM/GY
