ABUJA—THE President- elect, General
Muhammadu Buhari yesterday painted a gloomy
picture in the economic development of his
administration as he said that the decline in the
revenues due to fall in oil prices poses a great
threat to his administration’s development
agenda.
GBuhari-oilen. Buhari who visited the newly
elected Senators and House of Representatives
members who are undergoing induction course
in preparation for the 8th National Assembly in
Abuja also said that the decline in revenue would
affect the reconstruction of devastated areas in
the country as a result of insurgency.
He reminded the elected members of the 8th
assembly of the challenges the nation had been
facing which he also said would continue in the
near future.
The challenges according to him include general
insecurity and insurgency that has caused
extreme human hardship and destruction of lives,
livelihoods that would take over a decade to
rebuild across most of North Eastern Nigeria and
some parts of North western Nigeria.
Another threat to his administration according to
him was the devastation and environmental
degradation in the Niger Delta area which he said
must be attended to.
Others include, “endemic corruption which has
crippled human and infrastructure development
for decades. Unacceptably poor provision of
power supply which has had a crippling effect on
development of small businesses and indeed the
wider economy.
“Deindustrialization for the past three decades
leading to closure of many industries and
migration of many to other African countries.
Unacceptably high levels of unemployment and
especially Youth Unemployment reaching over
40 per cent.”
Besides, Gen. Buhari mentioned high cost of
governance that has been crowding out the
nation’s capital and human development, erosion
of public social services such as infrastructure,
health and education as well as lack of
development in the agricultural and solid mineral
sectors as areas that should be aggressively
addressed.
While soliciting the support of the lawmakers, the
President-elect said, “The legislature is a critical
component and necessary ingredient of
democracy and good governance. The legislature
by nature is inherently democratic in the sense
that all members are equal and are elected
representatives of the Nigerian people.
“As President-elect, I recognize this fact and
believe that legislators carry this heavy burden of
representation with all the seriousness it
deserves.
“For a president to be successful in addressing
community development and general welfare of
the various people of the country, he or she
would benefit from working closely and in
harmony with the legislative arm of government.
“I therefore commit myself to working with the
legislature as development partners motivated by
the desire to deliver good governance”.
He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for
the role he played in the sustenance of
democratic institution by accepting election result,
saying that Nigeria was in the threshold of
history.
Bemoaning high cost of governance, he said,
“First and foremost, appropriate policies need to
be put in place and such policies may have to be
translated into laws.
“Secondly, the oversight functions of the
legislature is critical in ensuring that policies are
implemented effectively and transparently.
Therefore, my mission to bring integrity into
governance would better succeed if
complemented with a strong culture of
transparent oversight.
“We need to collaborate on the budget process
and restructuring of the public sector so as to
collectively tackle the menace of high recurrent
cost at the expense of capital and human
development.”
“There is an urgent need to contain this high state
of insecurity. All of you are representing various
communities. We need to work together to
address the problem from both its roots and
manifestations.
“The strongest mitigating forces at this point are
to redress the power sector deficits, encourage
investments that are job creating and focus on
human development and reconstruction. We also
need to deploy efforts in conflict resolution and
peace building in all our communities.
“I am here today, to invite you to work with the
executive as partners in progress, as champions
of good governance and development and as
warriors for change. Together, we can make this
nation great and as a role model in Africa and
other emerging economies and democracies.”
President of the Senate and Chairman of the
National Assembly, David Mark, who ushered in
the President-elect into the International
Conference Centre, in company of other leaders
of the National Assembly, described the visit as
historic.
Noting that it was the first time a President-elect
was considering it worthwhile to address a joint
session of the National Assembly, Mark agreed it
was a historic meeting in the journey of
democracy.
For the Speaker, House of Representative and
Governor-elect, Sokoto State, Honourable Aminu
W. Tambuwal, Buhari has extended a hand of
fellowship to the legislature by his personal visit.
Tambuwal however expressed hope that his
colleagues would reciprocate Buhari’s gesture by
also extending a sincere hand of fellowship to the
President-elect when his government fully takes
over.