• Expert scores Buhari higher than Tinubu on economy

Vice President Kashim Shettima has declared that there is an urgent need for institutional reforms as the foundation for solving the majority of Nigeria’s public policy challenges.
 
But a senior economist at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Wilson Erumebor, said the country’s economy “is worse” under President Bola Tinubu’s administration than under his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
 
According to the VP, strengthening the nation’s institutional frameworks would address 80 per cent of its public policy challenges. Shettima spoke at the official presentation of the draft National Public Policy Development and Management Framework by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination/Head of the Central Results Delivery and Coordination Unit (CDCU), Hadiza Bala Usman. He described the new policy framework as a transformative approach, “long overdue” in the country’s governance architecture.
 
“If we get our institutional frameworks right, we will solve 80 per cent of our public policy challenges. This approach is long overdue,” he said.
 
Calling for a national reset in the way public policy is conceived, communicated and implemented, he noted that a workable national public policy is the vital ingredient of every government.
 
Shettima praised the President’s unique blend of public and private sector experience and his readiness to implement bold reforms.
 
“For the first time, we have a leader who understands the dynamics and speaks the language of economics. He has the courage to take far-reaching decisions. We cannot but commend Tinubu for his very promising reforms across all sectors of the national economy,” he said.

The Vice President also stressed the importance of policy clarity and communication, pointing out that reforms must be clearly understood by the public and consistently implemented across all tiers of government.
 
Emphasising the need to build strong institutions over reliance on individual leaders, he drew a leaf from former President of the United States, Barack Obama.
 
“Like Obama said, what nations need is not strong characters or leaders, but strong institutions guided by strong, fair and acceptable laws.”

IN a recent X space organised by financial analyst, Kalu Aja, the economist said Nigeria’s economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slumped to below $200 billion from $450 billion in 2023.
 
“It is economy; you can only have mixed pictures. There are areas with improvement as well as stagnation. For instance, if you go to the Ministry of Finance’s website, there is a document there. In 2030, Nigeria’s economy will be above $8 trillion in terms of size. At some time in 2023, the GDP was estimated at $450 to $410 billion.
  
“In that, they said they plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. In fact, from the reforms and what we have, more Nigerians have been thrown into poverty.”