Civic Hive, a Lagos-based innovation hub and an offspring of BudgIT, has lauded the manifesto of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar but raised concerns on how the politician intends to achieve most of its plans if elected into office in 2023.
Civic Hive in a recently released policy review of manifesto stated that the businessman who was a former vice president planned to raise the country’s “GDP per capita to US$5,000 by 2030, creating 3 million new jobs, lifting 10 million poor Nigerians out of poverty yearly as well increasing police workforce strength to 1,000,000 million personnel; reducing food import share from the current estimation of 20% to 5-10%; increasing the inflow of FDI to a minimum of 2.5% of GDP by 2030.”
Over the years, there have been challenges for governments to create a sustainable enabling environment for microenterprises to thrive one of such is funding.
There is also the huge gap between business owners and venture capitalists as well as the challenge of stable electricity.
“It is important to commend Atiku’s plan for MSMEs, funding, and the business ecosystem. Notably is his plan on tax reliefs for microenterprises; expanding export opportunities; raising both public and private-sector led venture funds; and expanding the NIRSAL de-risking mandate. These, if implemented, are vital to business enterprise growth in Nigeria. He also aims to target 10,000 mw of transmission capacity over the short term, 25,000 MW of power generation through a mix of energy sources, and increase refining capacity to 2 million barrels per day.”
“Atiku’s plan is focused heavily on leveraging the private sector for financing infrastructure and economic growth, and this is plausible considering the fiscal constraints of the government in addressing Nigeria’s economic challenges.
“However, his policies are built on huge assumptions that might not align with current structural limitations. These include how he proposes to raise Nigeria’s GDP per capita from $2,000 to $5,000 by 2030, which is historically unattainable, as only around five countries have doubled their GDP in 15 years,” the centre noted.
While the presidential hopeful might have carefully curated his economic blueprint, the centre in its review is demanding in practical terms how does he intends to reduce the tens of millions of Nigeria living below the poverty line if elected.
“Currently, 95.1 million Nigerians are projected to be living below the poverty line. Atiku’s aim to lift 10 million people out of poverty is plausible as there were no clear metrics and indicators to measure how this challenge would be resolved.
“Shockingly, Atiku’s aim to construct 5,000 km of modern railway lines raises the question of how prepared he is to handle the economy and the credibility of this campaign promise. Nigeria’s rail lines are around 3,528 km in total.
“If the Lagos-Ibadan rail (157km) cost $1.5bn to construct, how does Atiku plan to finance a 5,000km rail project which is estimated to cost about $48bn, and what is the viability of such investments in the midst of other competing priorities in the country?
“Atiku’s 39 policy has some lofty aims that are economically unfeasible, and it also leans on issues of corruption detection, prosecution, and sanctions. In no part of the policy did Atiku mention anything about the issue of climate change, sports and cultural development, and the booming tech ecosystem,” the centre asked.
While the various parties continue to woo voters, the centre therefore advised electorates to avail themselves with relevant information from the various candidates to make an informed decision on which of the candidates to vote for.
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