President Muhammadu Buhari has officially inaugurated Nigeria’s National Development Plan 2021-2025.
The President inaugurated the plan as the document was presented before the commencement of the virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The new plan will succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020).
What the Presidency did:
Accompanied by several members of his cabinet including the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and as Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, the President presented the document.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, while speaking at the presentation, said, “The NDP 2021-2025 is designed as our medium-term Development Plan to succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020), which ended in December 2020.
“The ERGP 2017–2020 assisted the country to exit economic recession in 2017, and sustained modest growth until the recent global economic challenges occasioned by COVID-19 Pandemic.
“The current challenges are products of many years of inappropriate policies, fiscal leakages and global economic phenomena.”
She added the FG is also taking necessary actions that will fundamentally change the structure of the economy and how government businesses are conducted for efficiency and effectiveness.
She also said the Plan is a pointer to the type of Nigeria we all desire and encourages the use of science, technology and innovation to drive growth. She also said that the NDP 2021-2025 is sufficiently comprehensive with the capacity to accelerate the attainment of various regional and global agendas, including the AU Agenda 2063, ECOWAS integration Agenda 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
“The Plan provides for the implementation of major infrastructure and other development projects across the six Geo-political Zones and the opening up of opportunities for the rural areas to ensure balanced development and increased competitiveness,” she said.
What you should know:
Recall Nairametrics reported last month that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the National Development Plan (NDP) for 2021 to 2025, which will replace the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) which expired in Dec. 2020.