Atiku Abubakar
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has faulted the Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, over the decision to invest a N20 trillion pension fund into infrastructural development.
Atiku agreed the new initiative was a necessity but condemned Edun's decision to be silent on how the goal would be achieved.
This is what Atiku Abubakar said while reacting to the Cable Report on this new initiative:
"My attention is drawn to a disturbing disclosure by the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, as he addressed State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, 14 May.
"There is, according to the Minister, a move by the Federal Government to rev up economic growth by unlocking N20 trillion from the nation’s pension funds and other funds to finance critical infrastructure projects across the country. The Minister has indicated that although "the initiative is expected to attract foreign investment interest over time", domestic savings are his ‘immediate focus’ for now.
"He provided no useful details, such as the percentage of the funds to be mopped up from the Pension Funds, for example. Even at that, this move must be halted immediately! It is a misguided initiative that could lead to disastrous consequences on the lives of Nigeria’s hardworking men and women who toiled and saved and who now survive on their pensions having retired from service.
"It is another attempt to perpetrate illegality by the Federal Government. The government must be cautioned to act strictly within the provisions of the Pension Reform Act of 2014 (PRA 2014), along with the revised Regulation on Investment of Pension Assets issued by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). In particular, the Federal Government must not act contrary to the provisions of the extant Regulation on investment limits to wit: Pension Funds can invest no more than 5% of total pension funds’ assets in infrastructure investments. I note that as of December 2023, total pension funds assets were approximately N18 Trillion, of which 75% of these are investments in FGN Securities.
"There is NO free Pension Fund that is more than 5% of the total value of the nation's pension fund for Mr. Edun to fiddle with.
"There are no easy ways for Mr. Edun to address the challenges of funding infrastructure development in Nigeria. He can’t cut corners. He must introduce the necessary reforms to restore investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and to leverage private resources, skills, and technology.
What Wale Edun said about the initiative
This is what Wale Edun said about the new initiative which attracted Atiku's negative remark:
“And the fact is that even before we start looking to foreign investors, we start looking to foreign funding, there is available in Nigeria, long term funds to fund infrastructure projects, and it’s within the pension, the life insurance and investment fund industry generally,” he said.
“There is upwards of N20 trillion available, and much of it is in short-term funding that doesn’t need to be. Pension money is long-term.
“People save over their lifetime for their pension. And so in conversation, in consultation, collaboration, and cooperation with the private sector, we are now able to announce and with the full knowledge and support of all parties, that there will be an initiative to fund growth through investment in infrastructure, including housing, provision of mortgages, long term mortgages, 25-year mortgages at relatively low interest rates.
“Initially, of course, the government will stand back and provide some support, particularly in this era of high interest rates but eventually as interest rates come down, there should be less role for the government through providing, for example, guarantees and so forth.
“So, we can look forward to these huge funds being leveraged with the expertise, the ability, the capacity of the private sector, partnering with the government to drive economic growth.
“On the supply side, construction of houses will be funded. On the demand side, mortgages will be made available so that those constructing houses have an outlet and Nigerians who are saving so much by way of pension funds, have the bonus of access to affordable mortgages.
“That really is the long and short of this initiative and you also as much as anybody else can understand and see what it means in the construction industry to do for the country.
“That is the plan, that is the target that is the hope. And in this particular case, you have the best and the brightest that Nigeria has to offer, putting their minds together and committing to achieve their goals.”
Note:
Even though Atiku Abubakar acknowledged the necessity for the new initiative as Wale Edun mentioned, however, he expected the government to give full detail of how the goal would be achieved.
Sincerely, going through the remarks made by Mr. Edun, emphasized more what is to be accomplished by the initiative rather than how it would be achieved, this is precisely what Atiku is complaining about.
However, it has been a tradition with the Nigerian government to hide processes of getting its policies implemented focusing more on the benefits derivable from the policies, projects, and programs.
This is what Tinubu's administration had repeated. Now, the question is why is the government, even at state levels, used to the act of hiding details of implementing its policies, projects, and programs?
Is it an act towards preventing the effort of the Saboteurs?
Category: World-News
Tag: Atiku Faults Wale Eduns Deployment of N20trn Pension Fund for Infrastructural Development
Written by Author (author)
Published 5/15/2024 9:01:49 PM