Economy
Public Affairs Experts Task Tinubu on Policy Directions to Lift Economy
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Barring any last-minute change, Mr Bola Tinubu will be inaugurated as the President of Nigeria on May 29, 2023, taking over from Mr Muhammadu Buhari, after he was declared winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He will inherit a battered economy and would be expected to get the ground running to endear himself to some Nigerians, who are not happy with his emergence.
As Mr Tinubu prepares for his next job, some public affairs experts and economists have warned him about policy loopholes that can derail the administration. They identified critical areas that have put Nigeria in bad shape, which should be his major concern.
These pit holes include risk-unconscious over-dependence on hydrocarbons – oil accounted for 90.5 per cent of merchandise trade in 2022; poor policy coordination – expansionary fiscal operations, driven by massive borrowings vis-à-vis contractionary monetary policy; fiscal inefficiency and revenue leakages – recourse to borrowing (it is relatively easy) and doing so inefficiently (largely through CBN), largely funding recurrent expenditure; counterproductive fiscal policies- Fiscal Policy Reform (FPR) weakening manufacturing activities and new investments; misplaced priorities – deepening brown economy and disregarding sub-national comparative advantage, and discourages productivity and weak social compact.
These were part of submissions at the 3rd National Policy Dialogue webinar organized by the Public Affairs Service of CMC Connect LLP, Perception Consulting, on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
The webinar themed Setting a Fiscal Policy Agenda for The Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration, aimed to foster a national discourse on the fiscal policy direction of the incoming government, especially in the areas of regulations, taxation, excise duties and other policies that are making the ecosystem unfriendly for business growth.
The keynote speaker, a distinguished economist renowned for his expertise in fiscal policy, banking, finance, and public sector consulting, Dr Abiodun Adedipe, stated that “The fiscal inefficiency, revenue leakages, misplaced priorities, risk-unconscious over-dependence on hydrocarbons, poor policy coordination, and counterproductive fiscal policies are the major reasons Nigeria is in bad shape.
“However, I believe this discourse will serve as a platform to tell the incoming government the need to engage the private sector deeply in formulating and reshaping economic policies that will make Nigeria and the productive sectors bounce back, thereby promoting a better Nigeria,” he said.
Furthermore, he said, “What we are selling to Tinubu`s administration is to set an agenda for ourselves, to be the top 10 economy in ten years’ time.”
Mr Adedipe eloquently elaborated on strategic directions for Bola Tinubu Government. He said, in the immediate, the incoming government should match non-oil revenue to recurrent spending, aggressively promote exports to the world market, starting with African countries, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and interrogate the nexus between import and export tariffs.
Elaborating further, the policy expert and Chief Consultant at B. Adedipe Associates recommended that the Tinubu government should ensure actionable, consistent and coherent fiscal, trade and monetary policies by promoting high-level actions on policy coordination and ownership, unified voice on policy pronouncement, setting the right tone at the top, revamp reform on Ease of Doing Business, evaluate policies based on deliverables. He espoused that the government must expand non-oil fiscal space, push for tax/GDP ratio of 15 per cent and above, and align fiscal, monetary and trade policies.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
