ABUJA(VP’s Office’ Report)- The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said that government was ready to engage the private sector especially in any game-changing investments such as the Dangote’s 650,000 b/d crude oil refinery being constructed in Lagos which he noted has the potential to a make huge difference.
He disclosed this at the inauguration of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum with the Organised Private Sector (OPS), held recently at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The Forum is part of federal government’s initiative at ensuring a robust engagement with the private sector.
The Vice President also expressed concern over the long period it takes to get projects and plans of government delivered, saying current administration is working to ensure a more effective and timely service delivery.
According to him, the administration is looking very carefully at how to reduce the time it takes to provide quality service delivery particularly with respect to processing and getting procurement done in the public sector.
He further noted that the execution of plans and projects remains generally a major challenge in the country, saying that it was significantly a public sector problem which is the reason why the federal government is making proposals to cut the time it takes to get things done.
“After all the plans, execution remains the major challenge, but we are trying to work very hard at ensuring that we are able to execute and that is one of the reasons we are making the proposals. For some of them, we need to make specific changes. Some of them can go by way of presidential directives and some are just attitudinal changes that have to be dealt with”, he explained.
Addressing representatives of private sector groups from Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), National Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (NACCIMA) and other business leaders, Prof. Osinbajo stressed that there were encumbrances working against speedy execution of national development plans and projects in the past.
He stated that the federal government is devising home grown strategies to steer the nation out of the current economic recession.
While expressing the commitment of the current administration to its engagements with the youths and militants in the Niger Delta, he said “We are all very committed to ensure that we deliver on many of the promises made by the Buhari’s administration; we are working through those challenges day by day”.
He restated federal government’s determination to work closely with the private sector and assured to engage them through the quarterly and sectoral meetings.
Presentations were made at the Forum by the Minister of Budget & National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; and Minister of State for Industry, Trade & Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, as well as the representative of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.
