Osinbajo: I am Responsible for the Economy

Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN)Tobi Soniyi and James Emejo in Abuja

The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), on Tuesday declared that he was responsible for the country’s economy.

Osinbajo, who is the Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), spoke at the opening of the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, saying Nigeria was in a time of monumental challenges.

 He added that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has to make tough choices in cleaning the mess left behind by years of corruption.

The vice-president said the task before the government was  to clean up the mess that corruption had brought on the nation and rebuild institutions that had been so ravaged.

“We are at a time of monumental challenges and tough choices, but alsoa time of incredible opportunities for achieving competitiveness, inclusive growth and sustainability,” he said.

Osinbajo said the administration has  to make tough choices in exchange control restrictions, altering the absurd recurrent to capital expenditure ratio, reducing the deficit and reducing the overall size of governance. 

He said: “We are called upon to clean up the mess and rebuild the institutions that corruption had ravaged over the years.”

Speaking against the backdrop of the theme of the Summit titled ‘’Tough Choices: Achieving Competitiveness, Inclusive Growth And Sustainability,’’ the vice-president said the current administration would be built on an economic model which would involve substantial social investment over the next three years.

“We are compelled to redress the paradox of high growth figures and widening inequality, rising unemployment and poverty. It is evident that any economic model that leaves nearly half of the citizenry behind requires re-thinking.’’

“This is why our economic model would involve substantial social investments over the next three years’’.

Speaking during the Presidential Policy Dialogue, the vice-president expressed the conviction that with programmes such as the Conditional Cash Transfer and renewed support for small scale businesses, government would generate employment and  address poverty.

He expressed the hope that these initiatives would greatly reduce social tension and criminality across the country.

Osinbajo fielded questions during the Presidential Policy Dialogue on ‘Tackling Corruption, Insecurity and Economic Competitiveness,’ explaining that social investment had become imperative if government must impact the lives of the people as against what happened in the past where economic growth figures did not reflect on  the lives of the vast majority of citizens.

On the agenda of the Buhari administration for tackling corruption, Osinbajo said exemplary leadership was fundamental to any meaningful fight against corruption, noting that mere lip service to the war against corruption had not yielded any positive results so far.

‘’The people want to see leadership itself exemplifying that conduct first, before you are able to say anything to others. For us, the starting point is to have a leadership with the kind of conduct that is expected from the people. That’s why we think an open and a transparent government is important,’’ he said.

He said the judiciary was important in the fight against corruption pointing out that the judiciary as an independent arm of government had also committed to judicial reform.

He commended the present leadership of the judiciary for being serious about the fight against corruption.

Osinbajo had earlier commended the leadership of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) for being steadfast and consistent in providing a national platform to discuss the economy on a regular basis.

The Chairman, Board of the NESG, Mr. Kyari Bukar, in his welcome address,  drew attention to the current economic challenges facing the country with emphasis on the imperative to make tough choices in view of the need to achieve competitiveness, inclusive growth and sustainability.

He used the opportunity to clarify that the federal government’s recent bailout initiative to the states was not an indictment that they had squandered resources.
Stating that he was not absolving them of any wrongdoing either, he argued that the intervention was only a response to circumstances occasioned by the falling price oil, which was beyond the control of the respective state governments.

The vice-president said states were getting much lower monthly revenue than they used to receive before the sharp drop in oil price-a situation which according to him, created a fiscal crisis which made it difficult for them to pay salaries and meet other financial obligation.

He argued that the federal government assistance was predicated on the difficulty the states were confronted with rather than their culpability in resource utilisation as currently misrepresented in some quarters.

Osinbajo during a presidential policy dialogue on tracking corruption, insecurity and institutionalising accountability, also expressed concern at the current number of unemployed youths, stressing that the present administration had mapped out a consistent policy on job creation which it intended to follow through.

He defended the All Progressives Congress (APC) manifesto on social security, arguing that the magnitude of poverty in the country necessitated the need for a Conditional Fund Transfer arrangement to get some form of direct assistance to the people.

The vice-president said the poor had completely been removed from past government policy considerations.

He said there was no going back on government’s resolve on social investments in view of their immense economic benefits to the society.

He said government was also to provide some form of universal health care scheme for Nigerians.

He also said the present administration had a sense of urgency and optimism to address a number of challenges facing the country.

The vice-president further assured that Nigerians they would within the next few years, see the kind of country they so desired.

Also, Osinbajo said government was according emergency attention to the insecurity in the North-east, stressing that the capacity of Boko Haram terrorists  had now been downgraded, thereby limiting its threat level.

He submitted that the current military operations against the insurgents had weighed heavily on national resources.

However, he assured Nigerians that ongoing economic turnaround by government would help rescue insecurity and improve living conditions.

He said improving the living condition of Nigerians, particularly those in the North east could provide the overall solution to the present security challenges in the area.

He further hinted on the need for major reforms in the judiciary if the fight against corruption be taken seriously.

The vice-president particularly frowned at the a situation whereby judges had given wrong judgments-most of which were dubious injunctions seeking to restrain security operatives from carrying out investigations on some people or institutions.

He said going forward, specific cases of wrongdoings would have to be identified and reported and appropriate consequences meted out.

But using Lagos State as an example, he noted that reforming the judiciary would require that their remunerations be improved and well as need for review of the system of appointment of judges to instill discipline.

He added that there’s currently a dialogue at the national level with members of judiciary to find a common ground on ways of making judges more accountable.
On the issue of corruption, which he described as systemic, the vice-president said although there’s currently a determination by the present administration to address the menace, achieving results would be gradual.

He said though there had been so much talk about fighting corruption, the leadership must show commitment in order to serve as deterrent to others.
Specifically, he said ministers and other public officials must demonstrate to the people what government intended to achieve in the war against graft.

He added that the conduct of public official could go a long way at discouraging corruption in the country.

While calling for a national reorientation, he said the culture of impunity would have to be contained as well as ensuring that corrupt persons paid a price.