By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said federal government was formulating a 20 to 30-year growth plan aimed at enhancing national and economic development.
The Minister, in a chat with newsmen in Abuja on Monday, stated that the country may consider a development plan which may have a 5-year medium plan where the annual budgets would be drawn from.
“Just like the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) that was a 5-year medium plan and will be expiring in 2020, the plan will be strategic and well cut so the budget can be drawn from it,” she said during the presentation of highlights of the 2020 budget proposal yesterday.
When asked about the complete closure of the Nigerian land border, Mrs Ahmed said that negotiations were ongoing with both Chad and the Benin Republic to identify why the borders were porous and assured that they will be re-opened afterwards.
The Minister also said the decision to shut the borders that were manned by federal government securities came as a result of breach in agreements by neighbouring countries.
Business Post reported yesterday that all import and export of goods from the nation’s land borders were banned pending when there is an agreement in place with neighbouring countries on the kind of goods that should enter and exit Nigeria.
Also speaking on how the federal government would implement the sanction of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that are not captured under the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), she said that the staff will not receive their October salaries and subsequent salaries and will only be paid when the different agencies and department comply with the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mrs Ahmed added that the staff of the ministry will not be sacked but their salaries will be withheld as the federal government plans to block revenue leakages with the introduction of the policy.
Dipo Olowookere