President to meet Saraki, Dogara
Bill to rescue economy ready
President
Muhammadu Buhari will be seeking emergency powers from the National
Assembly to push his planned stimulus for the economy.
The
objectives of the action-plan on the economy, which is in recession,
include shoring up the value of the naira, creation of more jobs,
boosting of foreign reserves, reviving the manufacturing sector and
improving power.
Government sources said the decision to seek
emergency powers for the President was based on a proposal from the
economic team headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. The team reviewed
the various policies so far introduced and how they have affected the
economy.
The economic team, it was learnt, gauged the mood of the
polity and decided that unless there is an urgency which some of the
extant laws will not permit, “the recession may be longer than expected
and Nigerians will not get the desired respite, which is the goal of
this government”.
An executive bill titled: “Emergency Economic
Stabilisation Bill 2016” is to be presented to the National Assembly
when the Senate and the House of Representatives resume from vacation on
September 12.
In the bill, the executive will be asking for the
President to be given sweeping powers to set aside some extant laws and
use executive orders to roll out an economic recovery package within the
next one year.
Buhari will be seeking powers to:
abridge the procurement process to support stimulus spending on critical sectors of the economy;
make orders to favour local contractors/suppliers in contract awards;
abridge the process of sale or lease of government assets to generate revenue;
allow virement of budgetary allocation to projects that are urgent, without going back to the National Assembly.
amend certain laws, such as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, so that states that cannot
access their cash trapped in the accounts of the commission because they cannot meet the counterpart funding,
can do so; and
to embark on radical reforms in visa issuance at Nigeria’s consular offices and on arrival in the country and to
compel some agencies of government like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the National Agency for Foods
Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and others to improve on their turn around operation time for the benefit of
business.
The
extant law on procurement does not allow contract award earlier than
six months after decision. Part of this is a mandatory advertisement of
the contract for six weeks. The economic team has found this to be
unacceptable, given our present circumstance.
Although the
president has the power to order the sale or lease of any government
asset to raise cash, “the procedure is cumbersome and long”. The draft
bill is meant to ease the process. The government source said about nine
government assets may be leased or sold to generate around $50billion
to shore up the nation’s foreign reserves and the value of the naira
against the United States dollar.
The source said: “Nigeria may
be broke at the moment but we are not a poor country, given our assets
and capability.” About N58 billion is trapped in UBEC’s coffers because
the states cannot access it as a result of the key condition, which is
the payment of 50 per cent counterpart funding. The government is
seeking an amendment to the law so that states will pay only 10 per cent
as counterpart funding.
The objective is that state governments
will have access to cash to develop education. This will facilitate
creation of jobs since contracts will be awarded for the projects.
As
for contract awards, the government, by the provisions of the law,
cannot mobilise contractors with more than 15 per cent of contract sum.
This is considered to be undesirable by the economic team given the pace
the government wants to move in turning the economy around and in the
provision of critical infrastructure. The bill will seek to allow the
government to mobilise contractors with 50 per cent of contract sum.
The
move to get government agencies to fast tract their operations is to
enable foreign investors to come into the country without the current
bottlenecks. Consular offices will now be expected to make visas
available within 48 hours and visitors, especially tourists who intend
to pick up visas at the entry point, will be able to do so. Time wasting
at the airport with duplication of agencies screening incoming
passengers is to be eliminated. Those leaving the country should go
without hassle.
For the power sector, the government plans to
truck gas from source to the power plants to enable them get what they
need for generation. A government source said: “This may be more
expensive but it is a price to be paid for Nigerians’ comfort”.
It
was learnt that President Buhari will engage the leadership of the
National Assembly before their resumption to solicit support for the
bill’s quick passage.
