13 Things Joda Committee Wants Buhari To Do Within 60 Days In Office

The Ahmed Joda transition committee which submitted an 800-page report to President Muhammadu Buhari containing extensive analyses of Nigeria’s key challenges, with suggested responses for the economy and finance, governance and social welfare outlined a list of prompt, medium and long-term decisions President Muhammadu Buhari must take, or authorise, within 30, 45, 60 and 90 days of taking office.

The prompt responses according to the committee are to create immediate impact, reduce government liability, increase revenue and stabilise the polity.


 Below are some of the steps the committee advised Mr. Buhari to take within the first 60 days of his tenure to impact the economy as obtained by Premium Times.
Reducing wastage & increasing revenue

·      Establish an inter-ministerial task-force to review all outstanding contracts and confirm the existence of the associated aggregate contractor liabilities of N4.1 trn across all ministries, departments and agencies as at April 2015.

·      Block major leakages by reducing wastage and ensure increased budgetary and fiscal indiscipline towards improved revenues.

·      Restructure and refinance existing debt; review and renegotiate existing contracts.

·      Review all Federal Government appointments in the last nine months.

·      Presidency to terminate all appointments not based on merit.

·      Ministry of Finance to ensure full implementation of Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007 to chase up any outstanding funds from all MDAs.

·      Ministry of Finance, Head of Service of the Federation, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to ensure full implementation of Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) across all MDAs to reduce leakages within the system


Diversifying economy & revenue Base

·      Wind down the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) and stop further payment; funds to be saved re-allocated for social welfare schemes and other areas of the economy to stimulate jobs and boost local production and efficiency


Palliatives as part of Subsidy Removal

·      Repair all PPMC depots & pipelines as well as the refineries.

·      Privatise the refineries post-repair along NLNG model.

·      Create a fund to subsidise retail consumer power tariffs from current level to a cost reflective level for 5 years.

·      Provide lunch every school day for primary school pupils to improve school enrolment and nutritional intake.

·      Revamp all Federal Government university hostels and provide an additional paid year of service in a revamped public service-oriented NYSC.

·      Establish primary healthcare centre in each local government staffed by midwives and health care workers.

·      One year apprenticeship skills acquisition scheme for agriculture (primary) and construction (artisans).

·      Provide subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cookers and gas canisters to rural households to encourage the uptake of LPG use for cooking instead of kerosene and firewood.

Power

·      Ministry of Power to urgently appoint very competent, apolitical Commissioners for the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and build capacity and integrity within the sector.

·      Ministry of Power to review and restructure the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) management contract by: (a) Signing the Year 4 extension, and (b) Structuring a fit-for-purpose management contract for 2016 to replace the present contract that only allows for the supply of just 8 management staff.

·      Reconstituting and streamlining the Board of TCN to more technical and commercial experienced members to enhance technical, commercial and project management capacity.

·      Implement a Schedule of Delegated Authority to Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) and provide the required autonomy to meet its contractual objectives.

·      Strengthen the Management Contractors Delegated Authority and eliminate undue interference from Government officials.

·      Ministries of Power and Finance, Attorney General to recapitalize Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) and provide Federal Government guarantees to increase investor confidence in the viability and solvency of NBET to meet its obligations and maintain stability in the Sector.

·      Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) to make domestic gas supply prices competitive & cost reflective by providing an enabling environment for investment in gas infrastructure to meet demand.

·      The President, Ministries of Power and Petroleum Resources, Attorney General to create a Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) Technical Committee to immediately review the Dr. Rilwanu Lukman’s version of the draft PIB (to bring its basic principles in line with industry best practice).

·      The Committee will also split the PIB into smaller sub-sector specific bills and prioritize presentation to the National Assembly work-streams to ensure the appropriate version is passed.

·      Liberalize gas sector to enable prioritization of key PIB segments and swift passage into Law.

·      Ministry of Power, NERC and NGC to resolve all issues holding up prospective/on-going independent power programme(IPP) projects and ensure that stalled projects commence generation to add up to 5,000MW generating capacity.

·      Ministries of Power and Solid Minerals to provide special incentives and concessions to attract credible local and international players into coal mining for power generation to increase investment in coal to power generation.


Oil & Gas

·      Ministry of Petroleum Resources to commence an audit of all Offshore Processing Agreements and Crude Swap Agreements entered by NNPC to identify and claim any reimbursements for excess crude lifted vis-a-vis products delivered based on a fair and transparent audit process.

·      Ministry of Finance, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Debt Management Office (DMO) to audit all outstanding liabilities and pay verified premium motor spirit (PMS) subsidy amounts to oil marketers to ensure petrol is readily available to the market and avoid further fuel queues.

·      Ministry of Petroleum Resources to review existing refinery licenses and pass enabling policies to allow for the building of modular refineries that focus on diesel, dual purpose kerosene (DPK), aviation turbine kerosene (ATK) and low pour fuel oil (LPFO) to bolster the creation of jobs, whilst removing the reliance on existing refineries and importation of diesel, DPK, ATK and LPFO.

Agriculture

·      Ministry of Finance to convene a conference with micro-finance banks and leasing companies on the creation of a viable working capital credit scheme for small scale farmers to create a platform to make capital available for rural farmers to buy sufficient quality inputs ultimately leading to higher yields.

·      Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) to convene an international agricultural stakeholder conference to develop a modus operandi for the modernisation and commercialisation of Nigeria’s agriculture sector, generate investor awareness and enable government to develop and implement policies that will attract investment in the agriculture value chain.

·      Ministry of Agriculture, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish and fund a Regional Commodity Exchanges and associated warehouses to creating accessible markets for rural farmers by providing a platform for the implementation of a guaranteed minimum price for key regional commodities. This will lead to a reduction in post-harvest losses and increased income to farmers.


Solid Minerals

·      Raw materials Research and Exploration Agency to create a special fund to be accessed through commercial banks or through a newly created development finance institutions (DFIs) to encourage local production.

·      The Presidency and Ministry of Solid Minerals to set up committee to revive steel industry using COREX Technology to accelerates massive creation of jobs, spurs industrialization and allows Nigeria become net exporter of steel.

Maritime

·      Ministry of Transport & Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA) to start enforcing the cabotage law to hedge Federal Government’s exposure from the impact of any losses as a result of damages, destruction and non-completion of public properties.

·      Ministry of Transport to review all contracts and projects undertaken by NIMASA since 2011 to ensure compliance with insurance Act 2003 and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) PAAR requirements.

·      Ministry of Transport,
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), NIMASA and Nigerian Navy to discourage ships berthing offshore Nigeria (in areas like offshore Cotonou) to discharge goods and cargo destined for Nigerian ports to increase insurance penetration in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

·      Ministry of Transportation, NIMASA, NPA, Navy and other law enforcement agencies to release funding for the introduction of a Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) and review framework for oversight of safety measures to improve safety of all vessels in port waterways.

Financial Systems

·      Ministry of Finance to develop policy to improve human capital capacity in all regulatory agencies in the finance sector by identifying and recruiting competent persons for executive and board positions to improve investor confidence from higher quality regulation of the financial sector.

·      Ministry of Finance, PENCOM, CBN, SEC, NSE and DMO to ensure that FSRCC is standardised and codified to ensure it meets regularly and its aims and mandate are clear towards improved coordination and information sharing among the Regulators for more effective supervision.

·      CBN to ensure that regulators investigate and compel banks to stop charging customers various fees for deposits and loans such as cost of transaction (COT) to reduce the costs of banking for consumers and encourage increased financial inclusion and reduce lending costs to companies.


Capital Markets

·      Ministry of Finance, SEC, CBN and NSE to implement and support the National Capital Markets Masterplan to develop a National Savings Policy & Strategy to enhance listing value proposition broader tax base.

·       Ministry of Finance and SEC to ensure that increased savings may be channelled to the capital markets to enhance listing value proposition

Pensions

·      PENCOM and the Federal Government to secure FGN formal commitment & undertaking to adequately fund public sector pension liabilities to secure retirement life for civil service.

·      PENCOM & Labour Union to apply sanctions to non-compliant state and Federal Government agencies to ensure greater compliance.


Insurance Industry

·      Nigerian Customs Service(NCS) to enforce the compulsory insurance of imports through the Nigerian Customs Service to ensure compliance with insurance Act 2003 and the NCS PAAR requirements.

ICT

·      Ministry of Communication Technology and NCC to recommence the sale of 2.6 GHz spectrum auction at NCC in order to provide additional frequency for broadband services.

·      Ministry of Communication Technology, the Presidency and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, and NITDA to implement ICT for Development (ICT4D) Initiative to drive digital inclusion across all sectors of the economy.

·      Provide the enabler for automation of Revenue Collection, Finance and Accounting, Education, Health, Government Services, National Security and Defence, Elections Management, Procurement, Public Enlightenment, etc.

·      Ministry of Communication Technology and NITDA to expedite implementation of local content development in ICT guidelines released in December 2013.

·      Immediately announce compliance to the provisions of the guidelines on Local Content Development in ICT to increase the number and capacity of indigenous companies to exploit the rapidly growing ICT/Telecoms industry; establish infrastructure for local assembly and manufacture of ICT products; and create jobs.