Emergency Powers Bill: No Economic Policy Option has been Communicated to the President – Laolu Akande

  Yesterday there were media reports that President Muhammadu Buhari was seeking emergency powers to tackle the economic challenges crippling the nation.

According to a report by Sahara Reporters, the executive, in a bill titled “Emergency Economic Stabilisation Bill 2016” was alleged to be seeking powers to:

• abridge the procurement process to support stimulus spending on critical sectors of the economy;

• make orders to favour local contractors/suppliers in contract awards;

• abridge the process of sale or lease of government assets to generate revenue;

• allow virement of budgetary allocation to projects that are urgent, without going back to the National Assembly.

• amend certain laws, such as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act, so that states that cannot access their cash trapped in the accounts of the commission because they cannot meet the counterpart funding, can do so; and

• to embark on radical reforms in visa issuance at Nigeria’s consular offices and on arrival in the country and to compel some agencies of government like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the National Agency for Foods Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and others to improve on their turn around operation time for the benefit of business.

Reacting to the development, Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said that although the economic management team was considering several strategies to urgently reform the economy those strategies had not yet been communicated to the president.

Akande stated on his Twitter handle:

The economic management team has indeed been considering several policy options and measures to urgently reform and revitalise the economy.

Some of these measures may well require legislative amendments and presidential orders that will enable the executive arm of government move quickly in implementing the economic reform plans.

As far as I know, this has not been passed on to the president, the Federal Executive Council or the legislative arm of government. So, at this point, there are no further details to share.