Victor EzejaFormer President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, has challenged the Nigerian government to set an ambitious target of N500 trillion national budget by 2027, stressing that the country has the potential to achieve it.
While acknowledging that it seems unrealistic, Agbakoba insisted that it is achievable if Nigeria is ready to overhaul the economic and governance system through bold and pragmatic reforms, moving away from business as usual.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelHe gave the proposal while speaking in an interview on Arise News on Monday, following the release of his policy report titled: “Governance and Economic Analysis and Forecast 2025.”
He said the Federal Government needs to adopt a “disruptive development plan” to achieve the target.
He asserted that Nigeria has what it takes to meet its economic potential but needs to do away with old structure of governance and embrace disruptive, transformative change.
He said Nigeria has had a series of national development plans for the last 60 years, but none have really worked. According to him, Nigeria is a country with abundant resources, but the problem is how they are used.
“What I’m suggesting in order to drive this process is an entirely disruptive development plan,” he stated.
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He made reference to the ongoing implementation of tariff policy by the Donald Trump administration in the United States, and how Mark Carney brilliantly used a development plan to shake up the bond market and push back; and also, China’s efforts to decouple from the international trading system.
He maintained that Nigeria stands an opportunity to make a move and see if it can achieve the suggested N500 trillion.
On how it can be achieved, Agbakoba mentioned that there are some difficult issues that Nigeria must confront.
According to him, there is a need for political and economic governance reforms. On the political front, the former NBA president said: “There is no way Nigeria can be successful unless it decapitates its current political arrangement. The federal government must downsize, devolve powers to the states and all the local governments so they all become economic-bearing entities.”
“The Federal Government must downsize. You recall the Oronsaye report. I don’t understand why we still have the Office of the Head of Service, the SGF, and the Chief of Staff. The Office of HOS is a colonial relic,” he said.
“Part of my proposal in achieving a N500 trillion budget is to absolutely reduce the governance structure. If America has 16 departments, Nigeria shouldn’t have more than 10,” he added, stressing that in order to create wealth, there is a need to shrink and reduce the cost of governance.
He said it is imperative to downsize the public service, which, according to him, currently consumes close to 80 per cent of public revenue.
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On economic governance, he said the country needs to revamp the oil sector to increase revenue.
He said Nigeria is the only oil-rich country in the world that still outsources capacity for exploration and production to international oil companies, making them richer than the country.
“My proposal is to do what the Saudi Arabians do and use simple service contracts. We have to own everything so that 80 to 90 percent of the wealth generated from oil stays here. Right now, nothing stays. Less than 10 percent. So, in this way, we will begin to close the leaking gaps and create the opportunity for the resources to stay in the country. So, in that way, money begins to drive up,” Agbakoba stated.
Speaking further on how reforms can help achieve the N500 trillion budget target, the legal expert with over four decades of experience cited an example of how the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has moved from N9 trillion they proposed earlier to N50 trillion with reforms implemented by the chairman. Zacch Adedeji, and even heading to N100 million with the ongoing tax reforms when they scale through.
There are concerns about the possibility of meeting that target in two years. It is almost ten times Nigeria’s 2025 budget of N54 trillion.
However, Agbakoba insisted that it is possible when the right thing is done.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
