Govt to reorder MDAs capital votes in 2017, says Buhari

The President urged the MDAs to begin to think outside the box, stressing that it had become necessary to refocus priorities.
“In this regard, let me inform you that because of the need to focus on our key priorities, some ministries may get significantly less capital allocation than they received in 2016 while others may get significantly more.
“Indeed, the challenges we face in the current recession require ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, to deploy strategies that involve engaging meaningfully with the private sector, to raise the level of private sector investment in the economy as a whole.
“Let me reiterate that this government will continue to strategise on how we can turn the current challenges into opportunities for our nation and especially for our vibrant youth on whose shoulders lies the future of this nation.
“This is why we have embarked on measures and actions that will open up opportunities we have seen in the Power, Housing, Agriculture, Mining, Trade and Investment, Information Communication Technology (ICT) Sectors, Tourism, Transport and other sectors”, he said.
He maintained that the retreat came at a critical time in the nation’s economic history when the economy is in a recession, with significant downturn in performance in various sectors.
“We are confident that the level of private investment will grow as we are determined to make it easier to do business in Nigeria by the reforms we are introducing under the auspices of the Presidential Committee on Ease of Doing Business,” he said.
The President said since the retreat was a lead-up to the 2017 budget, there was need for the sessions of the retreat to come out with determination and common position on how to have improved synergy among the various Ministries and Departments for the effective formulation and implementation of the 2017 budget.
“It is with regard to the importance of this Retreat that I decided to sit through the first part of the session to listen to the views from experienced economists and development experts on how best to implement our plans to rid the country of its oil dependence and to diversify the economy and bring the country out of the current economic recession.
“This is in line with our Administration’s determination to lay a solid foundation for growth and development as outlined in the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) of our Change Agenda”, he said.
The President noted that the inclusion of some key non-spending agencies as participants at the retreat showed the commitment of his administration to leverage on private sector resources, through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and other arrangements, in order to augment scarce budgetary resources and accelerate investments in building critical infrastructure.
Buhari said while government is taking the lead in the task of repositioning the economy for change, it would also require the support and cooperation of the private sector’s domestic and foreign investors, the States and Local Governments, the National Assembly and the Judiciary as well as all well-meaning Nigerians to succeed.
Buhari explained that the inclusion of some key non-spending agencies, such as the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), are participants at the retreat.
underscored the commitment of his administration to leverage on private sector resources, through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and other arrangements, in order to augment the scarce budgetary resources at our disposal and to accelerate investments in building critical infrastructure.
While also urging that all hands must be on deck, the president said, “While Government is taking the lead in the task of repositioning our economy for Change, we cannot achieve this completely by ourselves.
“We will need, and we ask for the support and cooperation of the private sector’s domestic and foreign investors, the States and Local Governments, the National Assembly and the Judiciary as well as all well-meaning Nigerians in this important task. We are confident that working together, we shall succeed.”
The president was also of the expectation that the cabinet members would learn from the experiences of the resource persons and facilitators to prioritize their sector programmes and projects to bring the country out of the current economic recession and place it on the path of growth and development.