Rejiging national economy: NECA canvasses policy options

UFOMBA UZUEGBU

As the year 2022 winds down and political activities take centre stage, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called on Government not to abandon governance, while also charging the incoming Government with necessary economic and Policy options.

Speaking in Lagos, the Director-General of the Association, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde noted that “the year 2022 remained one of the most challenging years for organized businesses. The pandemic-inflicted leadership and sustainability challenges forced organizations to take extraordinary measures in real-time, with zero planning. Things changed drastically and dramatically, leaving no industry across the world unaffected. In Nigeria, Enterprises were forced to operate under excruciating circumstances, made worse by inherent systemic contradictions. As organizations faced sustainability issues, they, at the same time, had to deal with rising energy cost, regulatory gangsterism, inconsistencies and contradictions in the Fiscal and Monetary policies (which has made doing business unattractive and created clogs in the wheel of attracting Foreign Direct Investment), rising inflation and increasing cost of doing business, which invariably reduced the capacity utilization of industries. While some of these challenges are not peculiar to Nigeria alone, Government’s approach to solving them remained suspect and does not inspire confidence.”

While making policy recommendations for the current and incoming Government, the Director-General stated that “Government has to stop making mockery of Nigeria and the citizens. It is distressing to witness long queues for petrol when Government claimed to have paid trillions in petrol subsidy. Notwithstanding the subsidy payment, Nigerians are still compelled to endure the long queues to buy it at almost black market rate, fueling inflation and economic hardship. Government must unravel the scam surrounding the subsidy and make pronouncement on a definitive plan to remove it”.

Speaking further on policy options to revive the stuttering economy, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde noted that “the tax system is currently skewed against responsible tax payers. The incoming Government must further reform the tax system to create incentives for payers and expand the tax net rather than the current over-burdening of legitimate businesses. Consistency in the tax policy will improve stakeholders’ confidence rather than the short-sighted attempt to sabotage the established roadmap set out in the 2022 Fiscal Policy Measures and Tariffs Amendments (FPM 2022), which covers 2022-2024. While it was gladdening to hear that Government had jettisoned the proposed increases in Excise tax a more collaborative and evidence driven approach should be adopted for future changes”.

On the rising public debt, the NECA Director-General averred that “with Government’s debt crossing the N41trillion mark and a seemingly unregulated borrowing by State Governments, the incoming Government must make deliberate attempt to resist the urge to borrow but should rather establish an accountability system that reduces the cost of governance, curb corruption and make budget padding almost impossible.

While Government and some of its Agencies sometime act as all-knowing, we urge inclusiveness in Policy design, implementation and monitoring. As Private sector is arguably the largest contributor in terms contributions to GDP, it is therefore, imperative to include Organized Private Sector in all economic-related decision of various arms and tiers of Government.”

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Oyerinde stated that “it is no gainsaying that the country faces enormous challenges, mostly self-inflicted. We, therefore, urge the current and incoming Government to explore policy options as suggested and adopt a more robust, all-inclusive strategy, focusing not only on the diversification of the economy but also on the imperative to urgently reform the current fiscal structure to reflect fiscal federalism, promote healthy competition and drive productivity. Government also  should address short term appropriation for long term infrastructure to avoid  white elephant projects and create a template for assessing and evaluating the performance of Regulatory agencies to national and business sustainability, among others” he concluded.