TheNewsGuru

Tag: adeosun

  • Finance Ministry, OAGF Comply with Fiscal Responsibility Act – Adeosun

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Sunday said that her ministry (Finance), as well as the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), has always complied with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA).

    Adeosun, who said this in a statement in reaction to a report by an online news platform, described as false the report that the Federal Ministry of Finance and the OAGF failed to adhere to the FRA.

    She also faulted the claim by the online medium that her ministry and the OAGF do not have an annual cash plan for every financial year for implementing the Appropriation Act.

    The statement which was signed by her Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Oluyinka Akintunde, added: “The minister wishes to unambiguously refute the entire misconceived report by the online medium and states that both the Federal Ministry of Finance and the OAGF have always complied with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) as required by Section 22 of the FRA.

    “The OAGF has always prepared a cash plan for payment on a daily and month basis as well as revised it periodically. Both cash payment plan and revised plan are presented to the Cash Management Committee presided over by the Minister of Finance.

    “Members of the Cash Management Committee include: the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Accountant General of the Federation, Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Director of Cash Management Department in the Federal Ministry of Finance, a representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and some support staff from the Ministry, OAGF and Budget Office.

    “The minister further wishes to elucidate that the federal government’s cash payment platform, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), makes it mandatory that a cash plan must be in place.

    “This implies that the cash plan must be prepared, reviewed and finalised on the GIFMIS before any disbursement could be made whether personnel, overheads or capital expenditure related.

    “The decisions on disbursement to projects are also taken and approved by the Cash Management Committee.”

  • Adeosun commiserates with Leadership over photojournalist’s death

    The Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has expressed sadness over the news of the death of a senior photographer with the Leadership Newspaper, Mr. Christopher Danladi.

    Danladi was involved in a heartrending road accident on Monday, 18th December, while on an official engagement to Taraba State.

    Adeosun, in a condolence letter to the Managing Director of Leadership Group Limited, recalled that Danladi was an industrious photojournalist with a passion for his work while covering the Federal Ministry of Finance and its agencies.

    The Minister said, “Danladi was a dedicated photojournalist with passion for his work during his stint with the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    “Our prayers are with his family and his colleagues at Leadership Newspaper who have been affected by this great loss.”

    Danladi was assigned by the Leadership Newspapers to provide photo coverage of the activities of the Office of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Federal Ministry of Finance and its agencies.

    Prior to his death, Danladi attended the Federation Account Allocation Committee’s media briefing on Saturday, 16th December, 2017.

  • Senate, Adeosun war over FG’s plan to pass 2018 budget in January

    Senate, Adeosun war over FG’s plan to pass 2018 budget in January

    The Senate on Tuesday challenged the Minister of Finance kemi Adeosun, on Federal Government’s insistence on passing the 2018 Budget in January when less than 50 per cent of the 2017 budget was only implemented.

    The upper chamber also queried why the 2017 Budget had no correlation to the 2018 Budget, insisting the implementation, if passed by January, would be poor because of the size of Nigeria.

    Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. John Eno, made the position known during the budget defence of the ministry.

    Eno asked to know how the ministry achieved 64 per cent budget performance in 2017 when other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were nearly scratching below 40 per cent.

    Responding, Adeosun said the ministry was working to raise all the MDAs to 50 per cent performance before the end of the year.

    On leakages in Federal Government earnings, she said the ministry would look into other agencies, outside the Federal Inland Revenue Service, that could augment earnings as pointed out.

    “We have taken on board some of key reform initiatives. A total of N306 billion is expected from privatisation and N5 billion from sale of other government’s property to finance the deficit.“

    She said oil revenue would contribute 37 per cent of the total revenue of N6.6 trillion.

    Others, according to her, are recovered looted funds, 7.8 per cent; tax amnesty, 1.3 per cent; signature bonus, 1.7 per cent; joint venture equity restructuring, 10.7 per cent; grants and donors funding, three per cent and others, 5.5 per cent.

    The minister said the revenue targeted for 2017 was largely achieved, with a record of 64 per cent performance.

  • FG releases final tranche of Paris club refund to 27 states

    The Federal Government on Saturday confirmed the release of the final tranche of the Paris Club refund to 27 state governments.

    The Director, Home Finance, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs Siyanbola Olubunmi, confirmed the release of the fund to the 27 states while speaking at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting held at the headquarters of the ministry of finance.

    She said about ten other states have yet to be paid by the ministry, adding that payments to them was being delayed by some processes.

    Olubunmi who did not provide the amount that was paid said as soon as the processes were sorted out, the fund would be released to the states.

    The Federal Government had in July released the second tranche of N243.79bn, bringing the amount so far disbursed to states as refund under the Paris Club loan to N760.17bn.

    A breakdown of the amount showed that five states received the highest amount of N10bn each.

    The states are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano, and Rivers.

    The total amount of N50bn received by these five states represents 20.5 per cent of the entire amount released under the second tranche.

  • Most states yet to meet up with FG’s conditions for budget support – Adeosun

    Most states yet to meet up with FG’s conditions for budget support – Adeosun

    The minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said some state governments are yet to fully comply with the with conditions for the Budget Support facility as agreed under the Fiscal Responsibility Plan.

    She added that particular states are yet to publish the mode of their financial disbursement, while some others have also not completed the Biometric Data of their staff list as agreed by the Council.

    The Fiscal Responsibility Plan endorsed last year by NEC details the conditions state governments are expected to meet to qualify for FG’s Budget Support Facility which ranges from N800 million to over N1 billion per State, per month.

    Adeosun revealed this on Thursday at forensic audit of revenue accrued from revenue generating agencies and meant for the Federation Account at the National Economic Council, NEC meeting presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    The Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee of NEC on the audit, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, said the forensic audit is ongoing and assured Council that the full detail of the report would be ready in January, 2018.

    He mentioned the Nigerian Customs Service and the National Communication Commission as the two agencies that are now being audited in a review that has included other agencies including NNPC.

    The report is expected to detail the extent of revenue meant for the Federation but never made it to the Consolidated Account under the past administration.

    BELOW ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL MEETING PRESIDED OVER BY VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO

    UPDATE ON FORENSIC AUDIT OF REVENUE ACCRUED FROM REVENUE GENERATING AGENCIES (RGAS) INTO THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT, EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT AND CONSOLIDATED REVENUE FUND BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE, GOVERNOR OF GOMBE STATE,

    The Governor of Gombe State, and Chairman of the Forensic Audit Committee, Ibrahim Dankwambo, informedvCouncil that the audit firm Messrs. KPMG, is still conducting the forensic audit of some establishment and that a full report will be ready by January 2018.

    UPDATE ON THE BALANCE IN THE NATURAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT FUND

    Council was informed by the Accountant-General of the Federation that the balance in the Natural Resources DevelopmentFund Account as at 13th December, 2017 stands at N106.984 billion.

    REPORT ON EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT (ECA)

    The Accountant-General of the Federation also informed Council that the balance in the ECA as at 13th December, 2017 stands at $2.317 billion.

    UPDATE ON THE CURRENT BALANCE OF THE STABILIZATION FUND ACCOUNT

    The Accountant-General of the Federation informed Council that the balance in the Stabilization Fund Account as at December 13, 2017 stands at N7.78 billion.

    UPDATE ON BUDGET SUPPORT LOAN FACILITY

    Council was informed that payment for the months of June, July and August to States has been effected, and that preparations are underway to do same for the month of September 2017.

    GENERAL COMMENTS ON SPECIAL ACCOUNTS

    Council would be furnished with details of inflow and outflow beginning from 2015 to date regarding some of these special accounts: stabilization fund account and Natural resources development fund

    The Honourable Minster of Finance informed Council that the Budget Support facility to states is based upon certain conditions as agreed to under the Fiscal Responsibility Plan. But most of the states are yet to comply, she added. She said most of the states are yet to publish the mode of disbursement and most of them also have not completed the Biometric Data of their staff list as agreed in Council.

    A. PRESENTATION ON CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WATER RESOURCES SECTOR BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES

    The Honourable Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, presented a memo to Council, asking for urgent steps and action in the water sector if the country is to overcome the challenges of water supply, sanitation and water governance issues, as well as achieve the 2030 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water supply and sanitation.

    He informed Council that Nigeria is lagging behind in terms of water supply, with access to pipe-borne water dropping from 32 per cent in 1990 to less than 7 pet cent in 2017, with a corresponding increase of 25 per cent in open defecation and the prevalence of water-borne diseases.

    He told Council that an estimated investment of N1.9 trillion is needed in the next 15 years to meet the SDGs by 2030.

    He outlined a three-phase Action Plan to revitalize the water, sanitation and hygiene sector to include the following:

    (a) A 12-month emergency plan beginning from the 2ndquarter of 2018 to April 2019.

    (b) A five-year recovery programme to last up to 2022

    (c) A 13-year revitalization strategy that will last till 2030

    These plans, he said, will involve the urgent establishment of an institutional and funding framework for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services, and the engagement of Urban and Rural (WASH) sectors on an accelerated development path towards 2030.

    The plan also calls for tripling the current investment in water supply, establishment of a WASH fund, fast-tracking the development of the National policy on Sanitation and the presidential launch of a National Sanitation Campaign to eliminate open defecation.

    Furthermore, the plan is seeking the massive rehabilitation of existing infrastructure in the sector, and sectoral reform towards cost recovery and promotion of private sector participation in the sector, all aimed at taking care of the estimated 182 million population.

    The National Water Reserves Bill now before the National Assembly provides for the establishment of Catchment management committees, with representatives of states within each hydrological area as permanent members.

    In a similar development, the Minister informed Council that Nigeria requires an average annual investment of N59 billion to attain 78,000 hectares of planned irrigation by 2019, and a total of N1.5 trillion to attain 500,000 hectares of irrigation by 2030.

    Council was also informed that the River Basin Development Authorities across the country are undergoing structural reforms towards partial to full commercialization.

    Council thanked the Minister of Water Resources and urged collaboration between stakeholders in the approach to National Water Supply.

    ANY OTHER BUSINESS (AOB)

    ·SECURITY

    The Chairman Governor’s Forum, Alhaji Abdullazeez Yari, informed Council that Governors have offered to contribute over $1 billion to support Military Operations in the North-east. Governors said money should be taken from the ECA.

    ·SGF/SSG’S RETREAT

    ·The SGF informed Council that there will be a retreat in the coming days, 18th – 19thDecember,between the SGF and all Secretaries to the State Governments for better collaboration on issues of security and governance in all tiers of government.

    ·FUEL SUPPLY

    ·Honourable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, told Council that fuel queues will disappear nationwide in the next 48 hours. All logistic arrangements to this effect have been concluded. He assured that there is enough fuel in the strategic reserve to last till the end of January.

    In his closing remarks at the meeting, the Vice President wished the governors and the people of their states Merry Christmas holiday as the meeting is the last in the year.

     

  • Only 40 million Nigerians pay tax – Adeosun

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said only 40 million taxable adults in Nigeria pay taxes out of the existing 70 million.

    Adeosun said this at the first annual lecture of the Lagos State Professorial Chair of Tax and Fiscal Matters held at the Ade-Ajayi Auditorium of the University of Lagos.

    Mrs Adeosun who chaired the lecture, said about 13 per cent of the active tax payers have their taxes deducted at source under the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) category.

    She said tax policies cannot be rigid and needed regular reviews so that many more of the 30 million defaulters pay their taxes.

    She said: “I have kept asking why the 30 million people have refused to pay taxes. Another major challenge is the fact that many Nigerians have other sources of income, yet they are only taxed only through the PAYE. Yet, they earn so much from part-time jobs, and extra businesses.”

    According to the minister, new tax policies in the country must capture online businesses, entrepreneurship and others such as the film industry, otherwise regarded as nollywood.

    Mrs. Adeosun, who reiterated the importance of taxation to national development, noted that every developed country has a well developed tax policy and that Nigeria cannot be an exception.

    In his lecture titled: “Policy, Legal and Administrative Imperatives in the Quest for Eradicating Multiplicity of Taxes (MOT) in Lagos State” Prof Abiola Sanni of the UNILAG Law Faculty, lamented the intractable nature of “the phenomenon called multiplicity of taxes in Nigeria despite the effort aimed at addressing it and need to consider fresh interventions from the dimension of tax policy.”

    Sanni said Lagos State had nine tax laws from which the government gets income but a review revealed that only three of them – hotel occupancy and restaurant law, land fees and land use charge, and wharf landing fees law are currently been administered in the state.

    He further said the Federal Government should admit that an important aspect of Value Added Tax (VAT) on intra-state supply of goods and services was within the taxing powers of states and should be allowed to use it.

  • How suspended SEC DG, Gwarzo attempted to blackmail me – Adeosun

    How suspended SEC DG, Gwarzo attempted to blackmail me – Adeosun

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said that her decision to suspend the embattled Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mounir Gwarzo, followed his attempt to blackmail her over the ongoing probe of Oando Plc.

    In a statement made available to TheNewsGuru.com via mail, Mrs. Adeosun said ahead of his suspension, Mr. Gwarzo threatened to leak information to the media.

    She said the “threat of blackmail” only strengthened her resolve to punish the DG.

    “Mr. Gwarzo personally delivered the memo using SEC staff seconded to the office of the Minister, in breach of normal procedures for the receipt of mail. The copy of the memo in the possession of the Minister was delivered with a message that any action against Mr. Gwarzo would result in same being leaked to the press. It was this threat of blackmail that strengthened the resolve of the Minister to suspend Mr. Gwarzo and allow the Administrative Panel of Inquiry to proceed with its probe,” Mrs. Adeosun said in a statement.

    She denied that the SEC boss was suspended due to his refusal to stop the forensic audit of Oando Plc, saying the allegation was “misleading and mischievous.”

    The statement reads:

    “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Finance has been drawn to some misleading and mischievous media reports regarding the suspension of the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Mounir H. Gwarzo.

    Mr. Gwarzo has alleged that his suspension was due to “his refusal to stop the forensic audit of Oando Plc.

    The Minister would not have ordinarily responded in view of her responsibility for the approval of the Constitution and Terms of Reference for the Administrative Panel of Inquiry into the allegations against Mr. Gwarzo. However, given the degree of speculations and the potential impact on the capital market, there is a need for the Minister to set the record straight as follows:

    1. The integrity of the capital market is vital to the growth of the Nigerian economy and must be managed in an orderly and transparent manner to ensure investors’ confidence. Its leadership must maintain and be seen to maintain the highest standards of integrity.

    2. That the original decision taken by SEC on October 20, 2017 to suspend the shares of Oando Plc and conduct a forensic audit, was approved and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Finance. The SEC team, led by Mr. Mounir presented adequate evidence to the Minister of Finance and her team, that Oando Plc had a clear case to answer with regard to infractions of the ISA.

    3. No contrary evidence has been presented and thus, the investigative work on Oando and all other ongoing investigations being undertaken by SEC in the discharge of its statutory functions have continued. Indeed, our information is that the forensic auditors have resumed at Oando.

    4. For the avoidance of doubt, there was no directive whatsoever to discontinue investigation into Oando and this was reiterated to the current SEC leadership at the formal handover meeting. The fact that the investigation has continued further corroborates that this is the Minister’s position.

    The Timing of Gwarzo’s Suspension

    5. The Federal Ministry of Finance would like to place on record that Gwarzo’s suspension is in line with the Public Service Rules (PSRs), to allow for an unhindered investigation of serious allegations of financial impropriety against him. Some of the allegations with documented evidence include the awards of contracts to companies related to him and members of his family.

    6. It should be noted that Gwarzo was queried by the Ministry on 3rd November and he responded on 7th November, 2017. His response to the query was deemed unsatisfactory and further investigation was ordered. Based on the evidence from that further work and creditable reports that documents were being unlawfully removed from SEC, as well as consultations with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the decision was taken to suspend Mr. Gwarzo.

    7. At the meeting on Monday, 27th November 27, Mr. Gwarzo was asked to clarify some of his responses to the query issued, which were not consistent with documentary evidence. From that interaction, Mr. Gwarzo became aware of the strong likelihood of his suspension. It was thereafter that Mr. Gwarzo prepared the memo, which has been circulated in the media.

    8. It is instructive to note that Mr. Gwarzo personally delivered the memo using SEC staff seconded to the office of the Minister, in breach of normal procedures for the receipt of mail. The copy of the memo in the possession of the Minister was delivered with a message that any action against Mr. Gwarzo would result in same being leaked to the press. It was this threat of blackmail that strengthened the resolve of the Minister to suspend Mr. Gwarzo and allow the Administrative Panel of Inquiry to proceed with its probe.

    9. The Minister restates that the insinuation of an instruction to discontinue with the Oando case is false and this can be corroborated by the other parties at that meeting and by subsequent events.

  • Suspended SEC DG, Gwarzo trying to blackmail me – Adeosun

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Friday, alleged that the suspended Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Mounir Gwarzo is doing everything possible to blackmail her.

    The minister, however, noted that no amount of intimidation from the suspended DG will stop the Administrative Panel of Inquiries set up to probe him (Gwarzo).

    The minister said this during a chat with journalists at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

    Adeosun described as untrue, claims by the suspended DG, that she attempted to stop the forensic audit by SEC into the activities of Oando Plc.

    She wondered why Gwarzo could resort to peddling falsehood when in fact he was given a right of fair hearing through an administrative query.

    Adeosun said that she decided to speak now to set the records straight, because the actions so far taken by Gwarzo since his suspension by the government is capable of eroding investors’ confidence in the capital market.

    She described the allegations against Gwarzo as very weighty as the ministry is in possession of records that shows inconsistencies in the handling of the affairs of the commission by the suspended DG.

    Adeosun said, “Mr. Gwarzo has alleged that his suspension was due to his refusal to stop the forensic audit of Oando Plc.

    “I would not have ordinarily responded in view of his responsibility for the approval of the Constitution and Terms of Reference for the Administrative Panel of Inquiry into the allegations against Mr. Gwarzo.

    “However, given the degree of speculations and the potential impact on the capital market, there is a need to set the records straight as follows:

    “The integrity of the capital market is vital to the growth of the Nigerian economy and must be managed in an orderly and transparent manner to ensure investors’ confidence. Its leadership must maintain and be seen to maintain the highest standards of integrity.

    “That the original decision taken by SEC on October 20, 2017 to suspend the shares of Oando Plc and conduct a forensic audit, was approved and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    “The SEC team, led by Mr. Mounir presented adequate evidence to the minister of finance and her team, that Oando Plc had a clear case to answer with regard to infractions of the Investment and Securities Act.”

  • Whistle-blower policy: Recoveries so far made exceeded our expectations – Adeosun

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said the recoveries so far made through the Federal Government’s implementation of the whistle-blower policy had exceeded its expectations.

    Adeosun stated this in an article written by her and made available to newsmen by her Special Adviser on Communications, Mr. Oluyinka Akintunde.

    The whistle-blower policy, which was launched in December 2016, is aimed at addressing the issues of corruption in the management of government resources.

    In the article entitled: ‘Positioning Nigeria for a prosperous future’, Adeosun stated that the government was doing a lot to stop the level of corrupt practices in the country.

    Adeosun said that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account system had assisted the government in consolidating thousands of accounts scattered across Deposit Money Banks into a unified system that was transparent and easy to centrally monitor and track.

    She said under the old system, it was common for government accounts to be converted into personal use, adding that with the TSA, this was no longer possible.

    The minister stated that while there was a lot of resistance to reform by vested interests within and outside the system, the Federal Government would not relent in pursuing its reforms.

  • Positioning Nigeria for a prosperous future – Adeosun

    Since the middle of 2014, when the price of crude oil fell dramatically, Nigeria’s finances became challenged. This is not hard to explain: we’ve historically depended on crude oil for as much as 70 per cent of government revenues, and 90 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. The outcome – pressure on government’s finances – was by no means unusual. A similar fate befell most oil-rich countries around the world.

    Where Nigeria possibly stood out was in the fact that during the preceding three years when oil prices were in excess of $100 per barrel, the government did little in terms of saving and investing for the future. Our Sovereign Wealth Fund, which was established in October 2012 with just $1bn, did not receive any further inflow during the oil price boom. Instead, billions of dollars were squandered through corrupt oil and defence contracts. It is a terrible thing for a country to fall on hard times without a savings buffer. There was nothing unexpected about our downturn. It was the inevitable result of the choices we made or didn’t make during the years of boom.

    What is remarkable, yet not as talked about, is the way we have worked so hard to exit the recession, reset the economy and reposition it for a brighter future for the present and future generations of Nigerians. The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is laying the foundation for the kind of economic growth that makes a real impact in the lives of citizens.

    The downturn has inspired unprecedented levels of fiscal responsibility, in line with President Buhari’s determination to fight Nigeria’s endemic corruption.

    Shortly after taking office, he issued a presidential order mandating the immediate implementation of the Treasury Single Account system, consolidating thousands of government accounts scattered across deposit money banks into a unified system that is transparent and easy to centrally monitor and track. Under the old system, it was common for government accounts to be converted into personal use, but under the TSA this is impossible. Also, the proliferation of accounts encouraged rent seeking rather than questionable practices.

    Budgetary reform has also taken a lot of our time and attention. We are pioneering the use of software to prepare our annual budgets, which allows greater transparency and the ability to track changes.

    We have insisted on using biometric verification in the deployment of our Social Investment Programme, which includes a job scheme for unemployed graduates, a school feeding scheme for primary school pupils, a conditional cash transfer scheme targeting a million of our poorest citizens, and a micro-credit scheme for artisans, farmers, and traders. In the past, the social investment payments would have been done as cash handouts.

    A similar insistence on biometric verification for the federal payroll has resulted in the detection of tens of thousands of bogus beneficiaries – or “ghost workers”, as we often refer to them, in Nigeria – and savings running into billions of naira every month.

    We are pursuing unprecedented cooperation with foreign governments and powers, as part of our transparency and anti-corruption drive. For the simple reason that a disproportionate amount of public funds looted in Nigeria end up in the United Arab Emirates’, Nigeria has signed bilateral agreements with the UAE Government on extradition, exchange of information, and repatriation of stolen public funds.

    One strong demonstration of our political will has been a Whistle-blowing scheme we launched months ago that empowers citizens to report public corruption. The impact in terms of recovery has exceeded our expectations. The tighter rein on public finances allowed us invest $500m in our Sovereign Wealth Fund, during a recession.

    A lot of the work we have done over the last two and half years has been focused on dismantling the old ways of doing things, rebuilding them, and empowering and fortifying our institutions with technology to block loopholes, discourage abuse, and prevent a relapse into the destructive ways of the past.

    The new Nigeria we seek will not happen without this kind of foundational reform that imposes on us new ways of thinking and of doing things. The early results are already being seen. A concerted focus on agriculture has seen our rice imports from Thailand dropping by 90 per cent between 2015 and 2016, and replaced by locally grown variants.

    As oil has let us down, we have started to do what we should have done decades ago, invest in agriculture and mining. Throughout the recession, agriculture recorded healthy growth. As we emerge from the recession, its impact is certain to multiply and position Nigeria for a prosperous future.

    Let me point out that the most important elements of any reform effort tend to be the least flamboyant. We are confident that in the months and years ahead, Nigerians and the world will see the full impact of the foundational resetting that the Buhari administration has been focused on since 2015.

    There is of course a lot of resistance to reform, by vested interests within and outside the system. But we are not fazed. The work of reform goes on. It is, to borrow from the Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe, morning yet on Creation Day. Not very long from now, Nigerians and the world will look back on this recession we have just emerged from, and realise that it was the turning point in Nigeria’s journey to true growth and greatness.

    –Adeosun is Minister of Finance