Politics
Nigeria’s Low Level Of Revenue Threatens Fiscal Sustainability – World Bank
Latest Politics updatein nigeria
The World Bank has revealed that the nigeria’s low level of revenue threatens fiscal sustainability and undermines the Federal and State Governments’ ability to finance necessary expenditures in the health, education, and security sectors.
This is according to the nigeria Country Economic Memorandum report released by the World Bank in December.
The global bank report noted that public spending on education and health prevents nigeria“>nigeria from developing the human capital needed for large-scale private investment outside the oil sector.
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The global bank stated that nigeria’s revenues are among the lowest globally.
It said nigeria’s revenues are not only low but have also followed a worrying declining trend over the past decade.
The report read in part;
Even during the commodity-price boom in 2012, nigeria’s revenue-to-GDP ratio was only 12 per cent, compared with an average of 21.5 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to over-reliance on oil, the fall in international prices in 2014–2015, and the subsequent economic deceleration of the non-oil economy, revenues plummeted to 5.9 per cent of GDP in 2016. Since then, nigeria has failed to shore up its revenues, and the country consistently ranked among the worst five globally in terms of revenue collection between 2015 and 2020.
nigeria’s low level of revenues threatens fiscal sustainability and undermines the Federal Government and state government’s ability to finance necessary expenditures in critical sectors, such as health, education, and security.
Spending more requires more resources, and therefore the most critical aspect of meeting nigeria’s vast expenditure needs lies in raising more revenues. Public spending on human and physical capital is too low to equip Nigerians for productive lives.
The World Bank further noted that;
Just 17 per cent of public spending goes to education and health, which prevents nigeria from developing the human capital necessary to attract large-scale private investment outside the oil sector.
Public spending is also fragmented across three tiers of government (federal, state, and local), which have overlapping and sometimes inconsistent expenditure mandates and no effective coordination or reporting mechanism. The states are at the forefront of basic service delivery, but their spending allocations to the social sectors are too low to improve lives and livelihoods.
The bank said inflation, decoupling between oil prices and revenues, insecurity, and uncertainty about the pace and direction of economic policy must be addressed to improve macroeconomic sustainability.
Politics
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Politics
Peter Obi Questions 30-Year Completion Target for Lagos-Calabar Highway
Latest Politics updatein nigeria
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has tackled the Federal Government over the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.
Obi expressed his concern in a statement via his verified X handle on Monday.
According to him, there is a pressing issue of numerous uncompleted roads scattered across the country, many of which, according to him, have become hazardous death traps and security risks.
He maintained that embarking on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years will only worsen the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.
Obi suggested that given the state of the nation’s economy, prioritization and fiscal discipline should be the critical guiding principles, insisting that the project will worsen the already sagging debt burden.
The former Anambra State governor said most of those uncompleted roads have been under construction for several years and are unlikely to be completed any time soon due to poor and unplanned funding.
He said, “I have closely followed the comments and developments arising from the coastal (Lagos-Calabar) Super highway Project.
“While I’m hesitant to engage in contentious debates about its benefits, which I acknowledge, and the pricing, which I have serious concerns about, and believe should be thoroughly reviewed, I am compelled to raise essential questions about the timing and prioritization of such a monumental venture.”
Politics
Ondo APC Primary: Aiyedatiwa Wins, Rival Aspirants Protest
Latest Politics updatein nigeria
The governor of Ondo State Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been declared the winner of the APC ward primary and the candidate of the party in the coming governorship election in the state.
Aiyedatiwa amassed a total of 48,569 votes in the primaries while fellow contender, Mayowa Akinfolarin, polled 15,343 votes, with Olusola Oke coming in third position with 14,865 votes.
He was declared the winner by the Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, in the early hours of Monday, who also noted that the electoral process went ”smoothly” with little skirmishes recorded.
”I can confirm that the direct mode of primary election adopted in the 2024 Ondo state governorship primary elections held in all 203 electoral wards in all the 18 LGAs in Ondo state,” Ododo said while announcing the winner.
The Ondo state governor coasted to victory in 16 of the 18 LGAs losing out on Ilaje LGA to third-placed Oke.
Incidents of violence marred the election in Ifedore leading to cancellation of results.
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