President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated Nigeria’s National Development Plan 2021-2025 to succeed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020).
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that the president presented the document to the public shortly before the start of the virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held in the council rooms of the Presidential Village, Abuja, on Wednesday.
In presenting the document, the president was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; The Secretary of Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu; as well as the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, revealed that the new document replaced the Economic Growth and Recovery Program.
She said: “The NDP 2021-2025 is designed as our medium-term Development Plan to succeed the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (ERGP 2017-2020), which ended in December 2020.
“The ERGP 2017-2020 helped the country emerge from the economic recession in 2017 and sustained modest growth until the recent global economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today’s challenges are the product of many years of inappropriate policies, fiscal leakage, and global economic phenomena.
“This Administration is taking the necessary actions that will fundamentally change the structure of the economy and the way in which government business is conducted to achieve efficiency and effectiveness.”
He said the plan would help Nigeria achieve strong development in science and technology sectors.
“The President graciously granted approval to my Ministry in 2019 to develop a new national development plan to be successful in both ERGP 2017-2020.
“It is very important to note that the Plan is an indicator of the kind of Nigeria we all want and encourages the use of science, technology and innovation to drive growth,” he added.
According to the minister, the NDP 2021-2025 will help Nigeria achieve its agenda at the continental and global level.
“I want to put on record that this Plan is sufficiently complete and has the capacity to accelerate the achievement of various regional and global agendas, including the AU 2063 Agenda, the ECOWAS 2050 Integration Agenda and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
“To have the future we all want, the Plan is developed to play an important role in the space of product complexity at the international level and takes measures to alleviate the constraints that have prevented the economy from reaching its potential, particularly in the product mapping space.
“The Plan foresees the implementation of important infrastructure projects and other development projects in the six Geopolitical Zones and the opening of opportunities for rural areas to ensure balanced development and greater competitiveness,” he said.
Others present at the event were the Ministers of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Water resources, Suleiman Adamu; Power, Abubakar Aliyu; Justice, Abubakar Malami; Industry, Trade and Investments, Niyi Adebayo, as well as the Ministers of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, and Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba.