Enormous socio-economic challenges shall confront whoever takes over from the President, Major General Muhammdu Buhari (retd,), in May, but Nigerians are already kicking against excuses, OKECHUKWU NNODIM reports
The imminent removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, high unemployment rate, insecurity, poverty, unstable electricity, bad roads, among other challenges, await the in-coming President of Nigeria.
On May 29, 2023, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), shall handover to whoever emerges as President in the ongoing general elections in Nigeria.
Citizens across the country went to the polls on Saturday and Sunday to elect a new president for Nigeria.
Among the top contenders include the Labour Party’s Peter Obi; Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party; Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress; and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.
These contenders had reeled out their manifestos, which contained how they would tackle the myriad challenges confronting Nigeria.
But experts in various economic fields said the problems across the country currently, were more humongous than what the presidential hopefuls had projected to address.
The results of elections cast on Saturday and Sunday are currently being collated in states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Nigerians are anxiously awaiting to see who would emerge victorious, with the expectation that the elected President would deliver on his promises by addressing the myriad of problems bedeviling the nation.
Analysts also explained that the challenges confronting Nigeria were more deep-rooted than the solutions proffered in the manifestos of the presidential candidates.
They, however, insisted that excuses would not be accepted from the government that eventually emerged, as the suffering in Nigeria was too much.
“Nigeria’s current debt burden, unemployment, high population, insecurity, power crisis, fuel subsidy, etc, are daunting challenges to be confronted by whoever becomes the next President.
“Notwithstanding these challenges, Nigerians are not ready to accept excuses from whoever emerges,” the former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr. Sam Nzekwe, stated.
Power supply
The former ANAN president said the new government must give priority to addressing the power supply situation in Nigeria, stressing that businesses had continued to go under due Nigeria’s abysmal electricity.
Nzekwe said, “Politicians have been taking Nigerians for granted, because Nigerians are also very shy in asking for their rights. So any government that comes will behave the way it wants to behave. They will lie to us and we keep praying to God to help us.
“But at times we forget to realise that if they do their work very well, we may not need to always resort to prayers, for instance, look at the situation of electricity supply in Nigeria. How can the economy move forward without power supply?
“Power is key in any vibrant economy. Without it, the industrial sector cannot work, because power is part of the enabling environment that we are talking about. So whoever emerges as President should not give excuses again about this.”
He pointed out that the high cost of indigenous produced goods was due to the poor power supply situation in Nigeria, as most manufacturers sourced power from generators and were spending heavily on diesel.
“This is the reason why most of the things being produced in Nigeria are very costly, because producers use generators to run their production processes. So the in-coming President and his team must not come in now and start giving excuses.
“Nigerians are fed up with such excuses. They have to tell us categorically how we will get power. It is very funny that since the military regime the successive governments and politicians had been promising 24-hours power supply but it never happens,” Nzekwe stated.
Also speaking on power supply concerns, the President, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network and coordinator of Power Sector Perspectives, Kunle Olubiyo, said the incoming government must take a holistic look at the power sector.
He particularly noted that the privatisation of the successor distribution and generation companies of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria in November 2013 should be reviewed.
This, he said, was particularly due to the dysfunctional outputs of the power distributors since they were privatised, and he added that the 10-year moratorium on power sector privatisation would end this year.
Olubiyo said, “When this moratorium expires by October, naturally it will be without litigation because they’ve given the privatised companies 10 years. And so if in between the lines, we try to shift the goal post, then litigation can arise.
“If not for the activities of the banks that are now involved in the day-to-day running of some distribution companies, there is no way we would have been able to push out this level of impunity in the sector. People can make as much as N15bn in a month and still have a licence for zero remittance.
Fuel subsidy removal
The removal of the subsidy of petrol is also another major challenge to confront the in-coming President, as oil sector operators, international financial agencies, experts and government officials have called for a halt in subsidy.
Nigeria spends trillions of naira annually subsidising PMS. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which solely imports petrol into Nigeria, has been shouldering the burden of fuel subsidy.
It has, however, repeatedly complained that this was taking a toll on its cash-flow and was denying the country enormous revenue that would have been used to develop other sectors of the economy.
About two weeks ago, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, revealed that the amount spent as subsidy petrol was now over N400bn monthly and was extremely challenging to the cash-flow of the oil company.
“Today, by law and the provisions of the Appropriation Act, there is subsidy on the supply of petroleum products, particularly PMS imports into our country. In current data terms, three days ago the landing cost was around N315/litre.
“Our customers are here, we are transferring to each of them at N113/litre. That means there’s a difference of close to N202 for every litre of PMS we import into this country. In computation, N202 multiplied by 66.5 million litres, multiplied by 30 will give you over N400bn of subsidy every month.
“For as we continue to support this, you will agree with me that it will be extremely challenging for us to continue to fund this from the cash-flow of the company when you do not get refunds from the Ministry of Finance,” the GCEO had stated.
Commenting on the issue of subsidy, the Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated that it was high time the regime was stopped.
He encouraged the in-coming government to be bold enough to halt subsidy on petrol, stressing that though this might be opposed by some persons, it was now clear among most Nigerians that subsidy should be discontinued.
“Of course, PMS subsidy has to go and the in-coming government should avoid the temptation of continuing it, because once they allow it, they may find it tough to stop it,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Nzekwe stated that aside from the issue of poor power supply, high unemployment rate, fuel subsidy issue, among others, another major concern to be confronted by the in-coming President was the high debt burden of Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s high debt is a major concern that should worry whoever emerges as president after the general elections,” he stated.
Early this month, The PUNCH reported that Nigeria’s public debt burden might hit N77tn if the National Assembly approves the request by Buhari, to restructure the Ways and Means Advances.
The Ways and Means Advances is a loan facility through which the Central Bank of Nigeria finances the shortfalls in the government’s budget.
“So when you imagine the level of indebtedness of Nigeria, you begin to wonder how the new government that will take over from this current government is going to handle the issue. But the truth is that no one is ready for excuses,” Nzekwe stated.
