Economic summit will fast track ERGP implementation – Minister

The Minister for Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, has expressed optimism that the 2018 Nigeria Economic Summit (NES) will give fillip to the governance component of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
The NES is an annual event organized Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning that provides a forum for dialogue among top stakeholders to reflect on issues constraining national development with the aim of building consensus to evolve common strategies and policy framework for addressing these issues.
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Udoma, who said this at the world news conference yesterday in Abuja, added that the conference will further address governance issues in the ERGP and ensure they work.
“This year’s summit is designed to accelerate progress toward the implementation of the governance component of the ERGP.
“The ultimate goal is to stimulate discussions on accelerating implementation of the ERGP strategies on governance in order to enhance the social welfare of the Nigerian people.
“It is against this backdrop that the summit is structured along areas of corruption and rule of law, effective public institutions, sustainable economic opportunities, human development and participation and citizen’s right.
“The summit will underscore the link between good governance and economic growth and development as set out in the ERGP.
“And it will also highlight the current state of governance and challenges in delivering public services to citizens to identify ways of overcoming those challenges,’’ Udoma said.
Launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2017, the ERGP is a medium-term plan of 2017 to 2020, that outlines the federal government’s policy direction for the economy in order to put it on the part og growth.
The strategy of the ERGP aims to address the issues of macroeconomic stabilisation, agriculture and food security, transportation, energy and industrialisation in the country.
The minister said that the government had continued to implement the various strategies outlined in the ERGP toward enhancing good governance and strengthening the country’s institutions.
While reiterating the positive outcomes of the implementation of the ERGP, Udoma said there was still more work to be done.
“We will continue to work hard and ensure we achieve the objectives of the ERGP.
Our focus is on governance and to make sure that the policies that we are pursuing achieve results and we know we need to work harder,” he said.
He expressed government’s commitment in sustaining implementation of policies geared toward good governance and strengthening of institutions toward the realisation of the objectives of the Programme.
The minister commended the media and other corporate organisations that had continued to support the realisation of the summit, while urging for more media cooperation in reporting the two days event.
The summit is will be help in Abuja from Oct. 22 to Oct. 23.