It’s official! FG to sell off national assets

The Federal Government has finally nailed the fate of national assets in the country, as it said on Saturday that proceeds from their sale would be used to fund the 2016 budget.

It would be recalled that there have been growing controtroversy over the call for the sale of national assets, with a cross section of Nigerians kicking against it.

However, the proposed sale got the blessing of Nigerian governors on Thursday during the National Economic Council meeting in Abuja.

Confirming the position of the Federal Government on Saturday in a statement issued by his media aide, Akpandem James, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said government had mapped out key infrastructural projects that would support its economic diversification agenda but the shortfall in revenue had made it difficult for the projects to be executed.

Read also: Govs line behind Dangote, approve sale of national assets

The minister also noted that government had lost almost half of its expected revenue this year, adding that it was this that prompted the Economic Management Team to urgently work out a fiscal stimulus plan to generate large funds to be injected into the economy.

According to him, the funds would be injected through proceeds of asset sales, advance payment for license rounds, infrastructure concessioning, and use of recovered funds to reduce the funding gap.

He however said it was government’s objective to achieve its fiscal stimulus plan without selling off all major critical national assets, but to source funds to immediately reflate the economy to the path of recovery.

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews

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