Lagos – Dr Samuel Nzekwe, a former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), on Friday urged the Federal Government to immediately commence work on a `realistic and cash-backed’ 2016 budget.
Nzekwe said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that important that `a budget be cash- backed.’
He said the sliding price of oil in the international market was a lesson to most nations to budget within the limits of their resources.
The ex-ANAN president said the dwindling oil receipts implied that governments had to sit down and thoroughly plan their income and expenditure.
Nzekwe called on the Federal Government take concrete steps to diversify the nation’s economy with special attention paid to agriculture and agro-based industries.
He said this would enable the country to export processed and finished goods instead of exporting primary products.
He called on governments to pay special attention to the development of infrastructure such as power and road, adding that they were strategic to the growth of the economy.
He said huge revenue was being lost by government as a result of the deplorable nature of the roads leading to the nation’s leading sea ports, Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos.
“It is worrisome that there is no easy flow of traffic to and from the two major ports, namely, Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports, which generate huge revenue for the country.
“The implication of this is that the cargo would be there accumulating demurrage and this will in turn cause inflation and increase prices of the goods.
“This may lead to loss of revenue with diversion of cargo coming to Nigeria,’’ he said.
Nzekwe called for declaration of state of emergency on the roads leading to Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports and ensure that tanker and truck drivers were punished for violating road traffic rules.
He called on governments to take necessary steps to financial block leakages such as auditing their payroll.
“Governments have to work very hard to determine the strength of the workforce in the public sector in order to block leakages in terms of payments made to ghost workers,’’ Nzekwe said.
He urged the Federal Government to monitor its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in order not to open the floodgate to all kinds of investors.
Nzekwe said government should ensure that it approved credible foreign investors to participate in the nation’s economy. (NAN)
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