Assessing Critical Sectors of the Buhari Administration
With barely a year to go in office, Rebecca Ejifoma assesses President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and the some of the successes achieved so far despite inherent challenges
On Sunday May 29, 2022, President, Muhammadu Buhari, marked his seventh year in office. Despite the challenges and some near misses, his presidency has recorded some milestones in the areas of infrastructure, Legislative Reforms, solid minerals, housing, finance, rails, roads, ports, housing, oil and gas, agriculture, power, social investment and poverty alleviation, sports, youth and creative industry, education, health, bilateral relations and asset recovery, as well as fiscal, trade, monetary and investment reforms among others.
Housing Given that shelter is a very important need for every human, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, has completed or is completing housing projects in 34 States of Nigeria, under the National Housing Programme, with the support of the State Governors who provided the land.
So far, more than 5,000 houses are at various stages of completion, and thousands more are planned.
Also, the Family Homes Fund Limited (FHFL), incorporated by the Federal Government of Nigeria in September 2016, is the implementing agency for the Buhari Administration’s National Social Housing scheme and it has now completed more than 13,000 homes across nine states, with another 20,000 in the works this year, thus creating more than 64,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Digital Economy In this regard, the president extended the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) ‘Pioneer Status’ to e-Commerce and software development companies; stipulated N145 per linear meter cap on Highway Right of Way (RoW) for fiber optic cabling, to incentivize investment in rollout; launched new national 5G policy in 2021, and successful licensing of two private companies to rollout 5G nationally. Nigeria’s 5G rollout will commence in August 2022;
Established nnew National Data Protection Bureau, which is expected to develop “primary legislation for data protection and privacy”; launched new “National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy”; drafted the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB), and submission of the draft Bill to the National Assembly for consideration and passage into law; established in 2021 a National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).
At the moment, there is an ongoing implementation, starting 2021, of the National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone Phase 2 (NICTIB-2) Project. The goal of NICTIB is to rollout a nationwide fiber infrastructure network; and ongoing construction of a Tier-4 Data Center in Kano, to join existing infrastructure in Abuja (Tier-3 Data Center) and Enugu (A Disaster Recovery Site). The Kano Data Center is expected to be completed in 2022.
Oil and Gas For the Buhari Administration, it was “Decade of Gas” and to tap into this, it is constructing the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Project, the largest domestic gas project in the country, just as it secured US$45 million Financing from the Islamic Development Bank, for the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study for the Nigeria–Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project, an agreement, which was signed by the two countries during President Buhari’s State sit to Morocco in June 2018.
When completed it will be the longest offshore pipeline in the world, and the second longest pipeline in the world, running across 13 countries, 11 of them in West Africa.
Also in its kitty is the successful completion of Nigeria’s first Marginal Field Bid Round in almost 20 years, expected to raise in excess of half a billion dollars, and open up a new vista of investment in oil and gas.
This administration launched the National LPG Expansion Programme (including Removal of VAT from the domestic pricing of LPG); ensured financial close and signing of contract for NLNG Train 7, which will grow Nigeria’s LNG production capacity by 35 per cent.
Also, Nigeria and Morocco in 2021 signed an agreement to develop a US$1.4 billion multipurpose industrial platform (Ammonia and Di-Ammonium Phosphate production plants) that will utilize Nigerian gas and Moroccan phosphate to produce 750,000 tons of ammonia and 1 million tons of phosphate fertilizers annually by 2025. It will be located in Ikot-Abasi, Akwa-Ibom State.
In December 2020, this government commissioned the new NPDC Integrated Gas Handling Facility in Edo State, the largest onshore LPG plant in the country, with a processing capacity of 100 million standard cubic feet of gas daily, producing 330 tonnes of LPG, 345 tonnes of propane and 2,600 barrels of condensate, daily.
It also established a $350m Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, to finance manufacturing, contracts and assets in the oil and gas industry, just as it ensured the financial closure on the following NNPC-involved projects: A 10,000 tonnes per day methanol plant and a 500 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing plant, in Odeama, Brass, Bayelsa State; the ANOH gas processing plant, with a processing capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet of gas, in Imo State. It is a Joint Venture between Seplat Petroleum Development Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). It also has the potential to deliver 1,200MW of power when completed; and comprehensive rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery (PHRC). Sign-off Ceremony of Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) Contract held in April 2021, marking the commencement of site handover and full mobilisation to site.
Not left out was the Policy, Regulatory and Funding Support for the establishment of Modular Refineries across the Niger Delta. It is pertinent to state that when the administration took office in 2015, Nigeria had only one functioning Modular Refinery but today, there are no fewer than six ongoing brownfield and greenfield Modular Refinery Projects across the Niger Delta.
In fact, in 2020 President Buhari commissioned the first phase of the Waltersmith Modular Refinery, in Imo State, and broke ground on Phase 2, which will add 20,000bpd processing capacity.
This administration also launched the Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimisation Programme (NUCOP), to reduce operating expenses through process enhancement and industry collaboration. The overall target is to achieve a $10 or less per barrel production cost.
Legislative Reforms
In the past seven years, this administration had succeeded in ensuring the passage or amendment of some landmark Bills. They include the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022; Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, which repeals the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended, and provides a comprehensive legal and Institutional Framework for the prevention and prohibition of money laundering in Nigeria, while also conferring on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the legal status of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering;
Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, which repeals the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 as amended in 2013, and provides for the effective implementation of international instruments on the prevention and combating of terrorism and suppression of the financing of terrorism;
Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022, which makes comprehensive provisions for the seizure, confiscation, forfeiture, and management of properties derived from unlawful activity;
Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act, 1993 (Amendment) Act, 2019, which will deliver increased revenues to the Federation; Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON (Amendment) Act, 2021; Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Bill, the first legislation in Nigeria’s history focused on curbing anti-competition practices; establishing the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission;
Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) Establishment Act, 2018; Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, an Executive Bill, signed into law in 2019. The Bill facilitates the identification, tracing, freezing, restraining, recovery, forfeiture and confiscation of proceeds, property, and other instrumentalities of crime, as well as the prosecution of offenders in criminal cases regardless of where in the world they might be;
Act establishing the Police Trust Fund, which will significantly improve funding for the Nigeria Police Force (2019); Nigeria Police Act, 2020 – the first comprehensive reform of Police legislation since the Police Act of 1943; Repeal and Re-Enactment of the Companies & Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020 – the first comprehensive reform since 1990;
Not Too Young to Run Bill (2018) – a Constitution Amendment Bill, to reduce the age of eligibility for running for elective office in Nigeria; Nigerian Correctional Services Bill, 2019 – the first comprehensive reform of prison legislation in close to five decades;
Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Bill, 2019 – the first anti-piracy legislation in West Africa; A Bill to grant financial autonomy to States’ Houses of Assembly and States’ Judiciary (2018); Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020; Finance Act 2019 and 2020; and The Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018. Executive Orders It is on record that President Buhari championed the use of Executive Orders in Nigeria. Since 2017, this administration has issued a number of landmark Executive Orders like the Presidential Executive Order on Promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business Environment (2017); Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Local Procurement by Government Agencies (2017); and Presidential Executive Order on Submission of Annual Budgetary Estimates by all Statutory and non-Statutory Agencies, including Incorporated Companies wholly owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria (2017).
Others include the Presidential Executive Order on the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (2017); Presidential Executive Order on Planning and Execution of Projects, Promotion of Nigerian Content in Contracts, Science, Engineering and Technology (2018); Presidential Executive Order (and Amendment) on the Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS) (2018); Presidential Executive Order on Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (2019); and Presidential Executive Order 11 on National Public Buildings Maintenance (2022).
Infrastructure Infrastructure-wise, this administration has seemingly done well with many of such projects dotting the length and breadth of the country.
Noteworthy is the Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp), which was established by President Buhari in February 2021, with initial seed Capital of N1 Trillion, provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
InfraCorp’s goal is to “to catalyse and accelerate investment into Nigeria’s infrastructure sector by originating, structuring, executing and managing end-to-end bankable projects in that space.”
In addition to the 1 trillion Naira equity seed capital, InfraCorp is expected to mobilise up to an additional 14 trillion Naira of debt capital. Establishment in 2020 of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), with more than $1 Billion in funding so far. Under infrastructure, the Rail was given due attention. Under this administration the156km Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail was completed and commissioned, within four years (2017 to 2021); 186km Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge Rail Line, completed and commissioned in 2016; 327km Itakpe-Warri Standard Gauge Rail completed and commissioned in 2020, 33 years after construction began.
As part of this project, there was the full rehabilitation of the Railway Village, Agbor, as well as construction of a Railway Ancillary Facilities Yard, also in Agbor. In 2021 the Line commenced commercial freight haulage, transporting pipelines for the AKK Gas Pipeline project.
Also achieved was the commencement of the E-Ticketing concession process for the Lagos-Ibadan and Warri-Itakpe Standard Gauge Rail Lines. The scope of the project is to Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Manage Secure Ticketing Solution systems (Hardware and Software) for the two lines.
Completed also was the E-Ticketing concession process on Abuja-Kaduna Route in 2021, which increased the monthly generated revenue from less than N200 Million to N400 Million, as well as the Abuja Light Rail completed in 2018.
Already, construction has commenced on Kaduna-Kano Standard Gauge Rail Line, following the ground-breaking by President Buhari in July 2021, just as g
ground-breaking was done by President Buhari for construction of 284km Kano-Maradi Standard Gauge Rail (with branch line to Dutse), preliminary works started 2021.
Others include ground-breaking done by President Buhari for complete revamp of Port Harcourt–Maiduguri Narrow Gauge Rail. Work has kicked off in 2022; 8.72km extension to Lagos-Ibadan Rail Line, to Lagos Port Complex, completed in 2021; 377 Wagons, 64 Coaches, and 21 Locomotives (including DMUs) purchased for the Standard Gauge network, between 2016 and 2021.
Another positive about the rail is the jobs, training and capacity building as more than 11,000 new jobs were created from the on-going rail modernisation projects in the country. More than 100 qualified young Nigerians were awarded full international scholarships for undergraduate/graduate courses in rail engineering and transport in China, from 2018.
In addition, dozens of Nigerian Engineers have been trained while a new Transportation University in was established in Daura
Katsina State, and a new Rail Wagon Assembly Plant in Kajola, Ogun State – both nearing completion of construction.
Road infrastructure-wise, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), invested over a billion dollars in three flagship projects: LagosIbadan Expressway (for completion in 2022), Second Niger Bridge (for completion in 2022), Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway (first phase for completion in 2023).
Issued by President Buhari on January 25, 2019, Executive Order #7 of 2019, on the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, now allows companies that are willing and able to spend their own funds on constructing critical roads, to recover their construction costs by paying reduced taxes, over a period of time, and in a transparent manner.
So far, more than a trillion Naira has been mobilised through Executive Order 7, for road projects across all six geopolitical zones of the country, like Bodo-Bonny in Rivers and ApapaOshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota in Lagos.
Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), a public-private partnership program to mobilise, in its first Phase, over a Trillion Naira in private investment into the development and maintenance of 12 Roads, amounting to 1,963km in length.
At the moment, more than 600 billion Naira worth of Sukuk Bonds raised since 2017 for more than 40 critical road projects across all six geopolitical zones. Between November 25 and December 13, 2021, the federal government handed over to benefiting communities 941 km of completed Sukuk road projects connecting 10 states in five geo-political zones of the country.
Air and sea port infrastructure saw the completion of New Terminals for International Airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt; construction completed on New Runways for the Abuja and Enugu International Airports.
The Abuja International Airport Runway was reconstructed in 2017, for the first time since the airport was built in the early 1980s. In 2019, President Buhari approved a special fund of 10 Billion Naira for the reconstruction of the Enugu Airport Runway; it was completed and reopened in August 2020).
Also secured was presidential approval for four International Airports as Special Economic Zones: Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt, just as he approved funds for the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) to build a world-class Flight Safety Laboratory (FSL) in Abuja, and train personnel to run it. Now Nigeria no longer has to send aircraft Cockpit Voice Recorders and Flight Data Recorders (“Black Box”) abroad for downloading and analysis.
The Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria, has undergone a transformation under President Buhari with a new Boeing 737 Full Flight Simulator installed in the college, as well as a fully-automated Fire and Smoke Aircraft Training Simulator. Prior to the installation of the Fire and Smoke Simulator, Nigeria was sending personnel to Cameroon for the relevant training.
NCAT has also acquired seven brand new Training Planes (one multi-engine and six single-engine) that use Jet A1 fuel; to replace the old training planes that were expensive to maintain.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) in July 2017 received the ISO 9001:2015 certification (re-certified in August 2020) for aeronautical meteorological services delivery, making Nigeria the first-ever African country to achieve this feat.
Significant infrastructural upgrades at various airports nationwide includeCat-3 ILS/DME (ILS = Instrument Landing System; DME = Distance Measuring Equipment) installed in Lagos and Abuja Airports in 2019 — which allows planes to land in zero visibility; Installation in progress in three more airports; Cat-2 ILS/DME installed in 10 airports around the country, another four in progress Doppler Omni-directional Range (DVOR) / DME installed in eight airports o Air Traffic Control (ATC) Mobile Towers installed in Lagos and Abuja Airports.
Others include Low Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS) installed in more than a dozen airports (the Sosoliso Crash of 2005 and ADC Crash of 2006 were reportedly caused by the absence of that equipment); the procurement processes for the establishment of an Aviation Leasing Company in Nigeria, a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Center, and the development of Aerotropolis (Airport Cities) in Lagos and Abuja are all ongoing, for completion in 2022, according to the project timelines.
For sea ports, the Lekki Deep Sea Port – the first new Sea Port in Nigeria in decades is now more than 90 per cent completed while the ground-breaking was done for Bonny Deep Sea Port in March 2021) and commissioning of Kaduna Inland Dry Port in 2018.
Construction of Kano and Katsina Inland Dry Ports are ongoing for completion in 2022 while the commissioning of the ‘Deep Blue’ Maritime Security Project, completed in 2021. The project includes 17 Special Mission Vessels, two Special Mission Aircraft, and three Helicopters.
Launch of a new Cabotage Compliance Strategy, in 2019, by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), to enforce the implementation of the Cabotage Act; Introduction of Electronic Call-up system by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), to substantially address the challenges of traffic gridlock caused by the Lagos Ports, using technology. Designation of the Lilypond Container Terminal in Ijora, Lagos as a specialized processing and handling facility for the export of locally-made agricultural and finished goods; commencement of indigenous survey and charting of Nigeria’s offshore waters, by the Nigerian Navy’s new Hydrographic Survey Vessel, NNS LANA; and Cabinet approval for award of 30-year Concession of Onitsha River Port, under a Rehabilitate, Operate and Transfer (ROT) arrangement, February in 2022.
Noteworthy is the development of capacity at the Eastern Ports to include Reduction of Tariff (10 per cent Rebate) on Harbour Dues for vessels calling at the Eastern Ports, as part of incentives to encourage vessel traffic to the Eastern Ports and several others.
Power
Given the epileptic power supply, this administration pledged to complete an incremental 4,000MW+ of power generating assets during this administration, including the Zungeru Hydro, Kashimbila Hydro, Afam III Fast Power, Kudenda Kaduna Power Plant, the Okpai Phase 2 Plant, the Dangote Refinery Power Plant, and others.
In energising Education Programme, they are taking clean and reliable energy (Solar and Gas) to Federal Universities and Teaching Hospitals across the country. Four Universities completed and commissioned already: BUK (Kano), FUNAI (Ebonyi), ATBU (Bauchi) and FUPRE (Delta); others ongoing.
Energizing Economies Programme: Taking clean and reliable energy (Solar and Gas) to markets across the country. Completed projects include Sabon-Gari Market in Kano, Ariaria Market in Aba, and Sura Shopping Complex in Lagos.
It energised Agriculture Programme, launched in May 2022, to catalyse economic development and improve rural livelihoods in Nigeria through exploring the nexus between mini-grids and agricultural productivity.
For National Mass Metering Programme, nationwide rollout of electricity meters to all on-grid consumers was launched in August 2020. The Central Bank of Nigeria is providing 200 billion Naira for this, and so far, more than one million meters have been rolled out, in the first phase. This first phase generated more than 10,000 new jobs in meter installation and assembly.
The Solar Power Naija (SPN) was launched in April 2021 to deliver 5 million off-grid solar connections, impacting more than 20 million Nigerians, and financed through Central Bank of Nigeria loans, as well as through partnerships with NDPHC, NNPC and the NSIA. The program is expected to generate an additional N7 billion increase in tax revenues per annum and $10 million in annual import substitution.
Under Solar Power Naija and NDPHC’s partnership, ASolar is rolling out 100,000 Solar Home Systems across the country, while the NSIA (partnering under SPN) has announced a N10 billion fund for developers, targeting more than 250,000 Solar connections.
In May 2021, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) announced the planned deployment of solar-powered grids to 200 Primary Health Centres (PHC) and 104 Unity Schools nationwide.
Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) is a $550 million programme being implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria in partnership with the World Bank and African Development Bank. NEP is a combination of subsidies, direct contracts and technical assistance to support Electrification across Nigeria. NEP has so far deployed more than 20,000 Standalone Solar Systems (SHS), as well as Solar Hybrid Mini-grids in more than 250 locations across the country.
Meanwhile, the Rural Electrification Fund (REF), created by the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005, was operationalised by the Buhari Administration in 2016. Since 2016, the REF under REA has executed more than N4 billion in projects, with more than N5 billion of Off-Grid (mainly Solar) projects slated to be executed across Nigeria in 2022.
Solid Minerals In this regard, in 2020, he approved a new national policy on local production of bitumen. In April 2022, the Federal Government announced the selection of PwC as Transaction Adviser for the concession process for Nigeria’s bitumen blocks. (Nigeria has one of the largest bitumen reserves in the world, mostly undeveloped).
The Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) is a Buhari Administration scheme to enumerate (deploying BVN and NIN data), organize/formalize, ‘skill’, equip, and finance (by guaranteeing offtake—with fair pricing) artisanal gold miners in Nigeria.
Construction completed on the first phase of the Segilola Gold Project, Nigeria’s first large-scale commercial gold mine, and most advanced gold exploration project (also currently the largest defined gold deposit in the country). The private sector project, built during the pandemic, began exporting gold in late 2021.
In Kaduna, a $600 million integrated iron ore mining, processing and steel production company is being completed, in Gujeni, Kagarko LGA of the State – a wholly private sector investment.
Licensing by the Federal Government of three companies to build the first set of gold refineries in Nigeria. In 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) added Nigerian gold to its reserves for the first time.
Agriculture This is another this administration has shone. The Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP): The Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria, launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, has disbursed more than 800 billion Naira to more than 4 million smallholder farmers of 23 different commodities (including Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, Cassava, Poultry, Soybeans, Groundnut, Fish), cultivating over 5 million hectares of farmland.
Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) launched as a government-to-government partnership between the Nigerian and Moroccan Governments, in December 2016, the
Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) produced 30 million 50kg bags of NPK 20:10:10 equivalent in 2020, bringing total production since inception to over 60 million 50kg bags equivalent; and number of participating blending plants increased to 62 from the four that were operational in Nigeria at the inception of the initiative.
The Special-Agro Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme, a half-a-billion-dollar partnership between the FGN, AfDB Group, IsDB, and IFAD, its agro-processing centres will be established across the country.
The Agro-processing centres will be provided with basic infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads as well as facilities for skills training. Seven (7) States and the FCT selected for the pilot phase, due to commence in 2022: Ogun, Oyo, Imo, Cross River, Kano, Kaduna, and Kwara.
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) is establishing Integrated Farm Estates across Nigeria. So far, new/revived Farm Estates have been commissioned in Katsina, Yobe and Imo, and others are under development.
President Buhari has directed NALDA to establish these Integrated Farm Settlements in each of the 109 Senatorial Districts in the country.
Also, the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) is an initiative of the Nigerian Government designed to Modernise pastoral agriculture and livestock production in Nigeria, through the establishment of ranches, and to deliver a lasting solution to recurring clashes between pastoralists and crop farmers.
By addressing the resource (land, water and pasture) constraints at the heart of the conflicts through this intervention, the government expects to see a situation where both livestock pastoralists and crop farmers contribute amicably to the country’s agriculture sector.
NLTP will create jobs, expand domestic technical capacity, increase agricultural output (milk and meat yields of local cattle breeds) and very importantly engender peace and security across the country.
The Green Imperative is a Nigeria-Brazil Agricultural Mechanisation Programme aimed at boosting agricultural production in Nigeria. The €995 million, 5-year project, funded by the Import/Export Bank of Brazil (BDES), with support from Deutsche Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and other partners, aims to deliver agriculture technology transfer from Brazilian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Research and Training Institutes to Nigeria’s entrepreneurs, Research Institutes and businesses.
The National Assembly has approved the loan for the financing of the program, which will involve the development of 632 privately-operated primary production (Mechanisation) Service Centres and 142 Agro-processing (value-addition) Service Centres across the 774 LGAs, and the reactivation of six privately owned partially-operational or moribund tractor assembly plants nationwide. It will also train 100,000 new extension workers.
Social Investment and Poverty Alleviation In 2016, President Buhari launched the National Social Investment Programme, currently the largest such programme in Africa and one of the largest in the world.
The National Social Register (NSR) of poor and vulnerable Nigerians (NSR) now contains more than 46 million persons from more than 11 million poor and vulnerable households, identified across more than 8,000 wards and 125,000 communities across the 36 States of the country and the FCT. From this number, close to 2 million poor and vulnerable Nigerian households currently benefiting from the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, which pays a bimonthly stipend of N10,000 per household.
In January 2019, President Buhari launched Nigeria’s MicroPension Scheme – which allows self-employed persons and persons working in organisations with less than three employees to save for the provision of pension at retirement or incapacitation.
Establishment of the Survival Fund, the National Youth Investment Fund, and National Special Public Works Program (774,000 beneficiaries across 774 LGAs nationwide), and the Central Bank’s Covid-19 300 billion Naira Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) to support millions of small businesses, households, and young people, with federal grants, loans, and stipends.
The Buhari Administration’s Survival Fund has provided grants (Payroll Support, Artisan and Transport Sector grants, and General MSME grants) to more than 1.2 million beneficiaries, since the last quarter of 2020. It has also provided free business registration to 250,000 MSMEs across the country.
Education and Health Since assuming office, the Buhari Administration has committed more than 2 trillion Naira of capital intervention to Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, through various means, including TETFund – with the universities taking the lion share of the total amount.
The Federal Government has disbursed more than 240 billion Naira in UBE Matching Grants to States and the FCT since 2015, and 24 billion Naira from the Teachers Professional Development Fund to States and the FCT.
It also launched the Alternate School Programme (ASP), designed to ensure that every out-of-school child in Nigeria gains access to quality basic education, irrespective of social, cultural or economic circumstance, in line with the aspirations of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG-4); launched the At-Risk-Children Project (ARC-P), designed to facilitate programmes that will ensure the integration of at-risk (i.e., lacking basic education and social protection) children and young adults, creating opportunities for lifelong skills and empowerment.
Secured was presidential approval for a new (extended) Retirement age of 65 and Length of Service of 40 years for Teachers in Public Basic and Secondary Schools in Nigeria (both effective January 1, 2021; A new Special Teachers Salary Scale (effective January 1, 2022), o A new Special Teachers Pension Scheme; Establishment of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) to regulate secondary education in the country.
Also, reduction in number of out-of-school children, by 3,247,590, as of 31st December, 2020, was achieved through a World-Bank financed program known as ‘Better Education Service Delivery for All’ (BESDA). 1.79 million of that number achieved through formal schools while 1.4 million are through non-formal interventions such as Almajiri, Girl-Child, Nomadic/Migrant and IDPs Education). Under the World Bank-supported Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) Project, approved in 2020, US$200m is being invested in 6 participating States (Abia, Benue, Ekiti, Gombe, Kano, Edo) as well as in 20 Federal Science and Technical Colleges nationwide.
Basic Health Care Provision Fund
The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) was another big deal for this administration. For the first time since the National Health Act was passed in 2014, the Federal Government in 2018 began including the one per cent minimum portion of the Consolidated Revenue Fund – amounting to 55 billion Naira in 2018 – to fund the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
The Fund is designed to deliver a guaranteed set health services to all Nigerians, through the national network of Primary Health Care Centers.
Fiscal, Trade, Monetary and Investment Reforms The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has seen total additional inflows from the Government of around US$2 billion under the Buhari Administration – since the original US$1 billion which the Fund kicked off with in 2012.
Also, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) in 2017 completed a long-overdue revision of the list of activities that can benefit from Nigeria’s Pioneer Status Incentive, which grants beneficiary companies a 3 to 5-year tax holiday. The revision, done more than 10 ten years after the last one, has modernized the List, expanding the tax holiday incentives to qualifying companies in e-Commerce, Software Development, Animation, Music, Film and TV.
It restored the Federal Budget to January-December cycle, with the 2020 Budget, for the first time in 12 years, introduced since 2020, of annual Finance (Reform) Bills to accompany the annual Federal Appropriation Bill; negotiated billions of dollars in arrears of Cash Calls we inherited when the administration assumed office, owed to the NNPC’s five Joint Venture (JV) partners.
Launched Visa-on-Arrival Policy, as part of Ease of Doing Business Reforms. In addition, a comprehensive reform of the existing Visa Regime, leading to the rollout in 2020 of a new and enhanced Visa Policy for Nigeria (including expansion from 6 visa categories to 79; each tailored to a specific type of traveller – 36 Temporary Residence Visas, 15 Permanent Residence Visas, 24 Short Visit Visas, etc.
Identity Management -There are now 80.7 million unique records now in Nigeria’s digital identity database (NIN), up from 41.5 million two years ago. The NIN database is now a pre-requisite for applications for passports, drivers’ licenses, JAMB and WAEC.
Assest Recovery Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has helped anti-corruption agencies devise clearer strategies for obtaining forfeiture of assets suspected to have been acquired fraudulently, mainly from State Coffers, before prosecuting suspected culprits.
Part of this work has involved painstakingly reviewing existing Laws (like the Money Laundering Act, 2004, the EFCC Act, 2004 and the ICPC Act, 2000), to identify and highlight sections directly conferring powers of forfeiture on Nigeria’s anticorruption agencies.
This advocacy has led to a significant increase in the use of Non-Conviction Based Asset Forfeiture Mechanisms by anticorruption agencies.
President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2022 signed into law the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022. The new Act establishes a Proceeds of Crime Management Directorate, which will ensure the effective administration of, and accountability in the management of, all properties and assets forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) launched a Constituency & Executive Projects Tracking Exercise, which is now in its 4th phase, tracking hundreds of Federal-Government funded projects across the country, to ensure delivery and value-formoney.
Security and Justice Reform According to the Global Terrorism Index 2022, deaths caused by Boko Haram dropped by 92 per cent from 2,131 in 2015 to 178 in 2021. The report acknowledged Nigeria’s “successful counterinsurgency operations targeting Boko Haram” as a leading cause of the reduction in terrorism deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Also, the International Maritime Bureau reported that Nigeria in 2021 saw the lowest number of piracy attacks in its waters in 27 years.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force acquired 38 brand new aircraft since President Buhari assumed office in 2015 (10 x Super Mushshak; 5 x Mi-35M Helicopters; 2 x Bell 412 Helicopters; 4 x Agusta 109 Helicopters; 2 x Mi-171E Helicopters; 12 x A-29 Super Tucano; and 3 x JF-17 Thunder), and is expecting another 36 new ones (12 new AH-1Z Attack Helicopters and 24 M-346 Fighter Attack aircraft), which have already been ordered.
The Nigerian Navy acquired more than 400 new platforms since 2015, including 172 Riverine Patrol Boats (RPBs), 114 Rigid- Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs), 2 Seaward Defence Boats (SDBs), 12 Manta Class/Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC), 3 Whaler Boats, 4 Barges / Tugboats, 22 Fast Attack Boats, 14 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), 4 Helicopters, 14 River Town Class, 14 House Boats and 4 Capital Ships.
In line with the President’s directive, the Nigerian Navy has established a Naval Base Lake Chad in Baga, Borno State, as well as received Presidential approval for new Naval Bases in Lekki, Lagos, and Oguta, Imo State, and Kano, Kano State.
In 2021, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), convicted 1,400 offenders; arrested 12,300 suspects; seized more than 3.4 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs; seized more than N130 billion worth of drugs and cash; and destroyed 406 hectares of Cannabis farms.
As part of Criminal Justice Reforms, President Buhari in 2020 granted amnesty to 2,600 prisoners nationwide, representing about 3.5 percent of all inmates, in a bid to decongest Nigeria’s prison population. The beneficiaries were those 60 years and above; those suffering from ill-health that might likely lead to death; convicts serving three years and above and have less than six months to serve; inmates with mental health defect; and inmates with a pending fine not exceeding N50,000 and with no pending cases.
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) on the other hand is deploying a Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS) at five International Airports. MIDAS is a global real-time border management system developed by International Organization for Migration (IOM) and is linked to INTERPOL & other watchlists. The implementation of MIDAS at the International Airport in Abuja was described by the IOM as “the largest deployment of MIDAS at any airport globally, to date.”
For the police, President Buhari signed into law, in 2019, the Bill establishing the Police Trust Fund, which will significantly improve funding for the Nigeria Police Force.
He also approved the recruitment of 40,000 new police officers. The recruitment is ongoing, in tranches of 10,000 recruits. So far, 20,000 new officers have been recruited, while the recruitment of the third batch of 10,000 is ongoing, and should be completed by July 2022.
COVID-19 Response One area that this administration shone was in its response to COVID-19. The President in March 2020 set up an Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) chaired by Vice President Osinbajo, to develop a comprehensive economic plan to respond to the disruptions and dislocations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ESC produced an Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) that is being implemented and has been credited with helping Nigeria exit the Covid-induced recession faster than expected.
Also, the President in March 2020 set up a Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to coordinate Nigeria’s multi-sectoral intergovernmental approach to COVID-19. The PTF has since April 2021 transitioned into a Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on Covid-19. President Buhari also approved the establishment of a 500 billion Naira COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund, for the upgrading of health facilities nationwide, finance a national Special Public Works Programme, as well as any other interventions that may be approved in the future; launched the Export Expansion Facility Programme, designed to ameliorate the impact of the pandemic on exporting businesses. The goals are market development (22 identified export markets), capacity building, export aggregation, and trade facilitation, among others.
