Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), yesterday disclosed that his cabinet would be announced very quickly within one week of inauguration; and that “Anyone with a whiff of corruption or any kind of taint will not be in the cabinet. Our manifesto will reflect zero tolerance for corruption”.
He however pledged to put an end to fuel subsidies, adding that the oil and gas sector would be reformed as a matter of priority in order to attract new investments.
He however pledged to put an end to fuel subsidies, adding that the oil and gas sector would be reformed as a matter of priority in order to attract new investments.
The President-Elect, who stated this while unveiling his economic policies at a Lagos Business School breakfast meeting, noted that he would run a very lean government, which would involve rationalizing overlapping and redundant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in line with the Steve Oronsaye presidential committee report.
Buhari, who was represented at the meeting by former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, however disclosed that there would be very little action from his administration until October, partly due to the fact that Goodluck Jonathan-led administration authored the currently existing 2015 budget.
Asserting that the federal government under the All Progressives Congress, APC, would seek “to align the electoral and fiscal calendars to avoid this type of problem in future,” he assured the audience that the cardinal agenda of his government and their over-arching themes would be security, fighting corruption and unemployment.
“We believe that corruption has a very strong negative link to both security and unemployment,” he said.
The President-Elect maintained that there would be no real action until October partly because the 2015 budget “is Jonathan’s and may be fully approved in April. A very lean government is the focus, largely in line with the Steve Oronsaye presidential committee report. This report was available to the Jonathan government, but the will to implement it was absent”.
He acknowledged that the APC “is not a conclave of cardinals, as it includes the good, the bad and the ugly,” noting that in Nigeria, the bad and the ugly could be the biggest electoral assets, though the new government “will not interfere with law enforcement agencies or the judiciary even if APC members are involved in corrupt practices”.
He further assured that the Vice-President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who did a lot of work as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State would bring his experience to revamp and strengthen the judiciary to complement the anti-corruption drive and the rule of law, adding that “He will also anchor the economic committee”.
He promised that his government would continue with some of the programmes in the Jonathan administration, which were successful.
“For example, agriculture, though there would be a stronger collaboration between the federal and state governments,” he said.
He also revealed plans to consolidate such anti-corruption agencies as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, into a single entity to make them more effective.
“We believe Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is getting over-burdened by developmental finance issues at the expense of its core objectives; this will be changed,” he said.
According to Buhari, the subsidy on petroleum products would certainly go and the industry would be reformed as a matter of priority in order to attract new investments, adding that “While power reform has been commendable and will continue, the approach will change”.
Buhari explained that power transmission would be deregulated, regionalised and privatized in order “to break down centralized transmission, while the issues of gas supply to Gencos will be addressed.
“But the new government believes that Discos are the biggest bottlenecks presently. The government plans to add on 4,000 MW of power every year and expect that output will reach a minimum of 12,000 MW at the end of his tenure”.
He said the party’s groundwork showed that N3 trillion in savings could come out of plugged leakages, noting that the employment drive would be private sector led.
“The government will allow market forces to prevail, including in the foreign exchange regime,” he said.
The President-Elect debunked speculations that he would use fiat to fix the foreign exchange, adding, however, that the government would keenly seek to protect the more economically vulnerable segments of the society.
He added that there would be a tightening of the tax noose, though there would be no tax increase.
“The Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) will be strengthened and the LASG IGR template will be adopted at the national level,” he stated.
While acknowledging that the nation’s infrastructure gap required huge capital outlay, which the government does not have, Buhari pledged to develop a master plan for infrastructural development in the country.
