The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has said that Nigeria must grow its economy by at least seven percent annually to meaningfully improve the lives of its poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
Speaking at a high-level policy dialogue on local government fiscal autonomy in Abuja on Tuesday, Edun said the administration of President Bola Tinubu has already set the stage for economic stabilisation and long-term resilience through bold early reforms.
The policy dialogue was convened by Agora Policy in collaboration with the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch (CeFTiP), TheCable, and the MacArthur Foundation.
The forum brought together senior policymakers, civil society leaders, and development stakeholders to deliberate on how fiscal autonomy for local governments can contribute to inclusive growth and effective service delivery.
According to the minister, the administration’s initial actions addressed major macroeconomic imbalances, such as distortions in pricing and structural bottlenecks that hampered growth and investment.
“We have made the groundwork for stimulating economic resilience and macroeconomic stability,” Edun said. “The first phase was removing major macroeconomic disruptions in the form of food pricing, employment growth, market pricing, and employment change.”
He stated that the government is now moving into the second phase of its economic reform agenda, focused on stabilising key indicators, controlling inflation, narrowing fiscal deficits, and boosting revenue.
“To really help the poorest and most vulnerable, we need to be doing around 7 percent per annum,” he said.
Edun also spoke about the broader implications of the recent Supreme Court judgment mandating direct funding to democratically elect local governments, describing it as a transformative development in Nigeria’s governance structure.
He said local government autonomy, when properly implemented, has the potential to accelerate development at the grassroots by bringing decision-making and resource control closer to the people.
“It is the collaboration, professional determination, and willingness of all to achieve success that will be paramount in ensuring that we achieve what those justices of the Supreme Court have laid down for us,” he noted.
He disclosed that the federal government is pursuing several initiatives to bolster local governance capacity, including a national nutrition programme targeting all 774 local government areas and the 774 Local Government Connectivity Project aimed at improving digital infrastructure.
“The construction of critical digital technology to increase connectivity has significantly improved access to markets—both domestic and international—access to education, access to health services, and thereby fostering inclusive economic growth,” Edun said.
Executive Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Victor Muruako, urged local governments to approach their new financial independence with a strong commitment to fiscal discipline and transparency.
“I passionately urge all local governments in Nigeria to preface the implementation of their autonomy with clear commitments to fiscal transparency, accountability, and prudence,” Muruako said.
He warned that while autonomy provides local governments the opportunity to engage directly with financial institutions for development financing, borrowing should be carefully managed and aligned with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“With fiscal and financial autonomy, local governments now have the opportunity to approach banks and other financial institutions for borrowing to fund development projects. I strongly advise LGAs to exercise caution and adhere strictly to the terms, conditions, and limitations outlined in the FRA to ensure sustainable fiscal management,” he said.
Muruako, who previously served as a local council chairman and held leadership roles in the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), stressed that the objective of autonomy is not institutional independence for its own sake, but improved service delivery and human development at the community level.
Chair of Agora Policy, Ojobo Ode Atuluku, said that Nigeria must look beyond legal rulings to undertake the deeper institutional reforms needed to revitalise local governance.
“If we are truly committed to restoring the promise of local democracy, then we must pursue a roots-and-branch reform of our local governance system,” she said.
According to Atuluku, this includes dismantling entrenched systems of political patronage, overhauling local electoral processes, and transforming local councils into responsive and accountable bodies that truly reflect citizens’ needs.
She announced that Agora Policy will soon launch the Local Governance Accountability (LGA) Portal, an online tool designed to track statutory allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), elected officials at the local level, and the historical profiles of all local governments in Nigeria since 1999.
“It will be a powerful tool for a genuine local governance systems development,” she said, adding that the Abuja event is part of an ongoing effort to make local government institutions more transparent and impactful.
* Media Report