● Says “EYEMARK web app will enable citizens track and report progress of capital projects countrywide

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba said the National Development Plan (NDP, 2021-2025) would require an investment of about N348.1 trillion for it to achieve its objectives within the plan period.

In a keynote address he delivered, on Monday, at the National Dialogue on the Implementation of the plan and the role of monitoring and evaluation in the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja, Agba said that it was estimated that Government capital expenditure during the period would be N49.7 trillion (14 percent).

He stated that the balance of N298.3 trillion (86 percent) would be provided by the private sector, adding “of the 14 percent Government contribution, the Federal Government of Nigeria capital expenditure will be N29.6 trillion (9 percent) while the subnational Governments’ capital expenditure will be about N20.1 trillion (6 percent).”

According to him: “The successful implementation of this Plan will be heavily dependent on a strong partnership between the private and public sectors and both sectors playing their expected roles effectively.”

He said that Government on its part would finance the Plan directly from budgetary provisions as approved by the National Assembly, stressing that “to ensure fiscal sustainability, efforts will be geared towards the enhancement of domestic resource mobilization, especially in enhancing non-oil revenues within the Plan period to avoid fiscal shocks in financing the Plan.”

He explained that the target was to increase national government’s revenue up to 15 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of 2025 to reduce the deficit-GDP ratio.

Agba stated that effective implementation of the NDP would help to unlock higher investments in all the nation’s sectors and stimulate economic growth, enough to move the country towards sustainable development goals.

He stressed that the implementation of the NDP 2021-2025 and Nigeria Agenda 2050 portended a positive and brighter outlook for the Nigerian economy in the medium to long terms.

According to him: “It envisages that the private sector drives the economy; hence its focus on removing the various binding constraints including 18 idenfied laws and 10 policies) in t the Volume 3 of the Plan to wit: the Legislative Imperatives, including Plan Continuity Bill and the setting up of the Committee to make the changes.’

Agba continued: “Nigeria remains the largest economy and most populous country in Africa with an estimated population of more than 200 million people, which is expected to grow to 411 million by 2050 and become the third most populous country in the world after China and India.

“The country’s middle class of about 50 million people is expected to help grow the country into one of the top-twenty global economies by 2050. These statistics show that Nigeria has enormous potential and opportunities ahead of it.”

He noted that the role of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the implementation of the plan could not be over-emphasised as it was key to ensuring effective delivery of the achievements of the objectives of the plan.

“Conventionally, some of the roles of M&E in any project, programmes and policies implementation, according to him, include, provision of consolidated source of information showcasing project progress; generating reports that contribute to transparency and accountability, revelation of mistakes and offer of paths for learning and improvements; providing a way to assessing the crucial link between implementers and beneficiaries on the ground and decision-makers; and adding to the retention and development of institutional memory,” he said.

He stated that as parts of the M&E framework were citizens’ engagement and use of technology, which according to him led to the development and launch of the “Eyemark” web application by President Muhammadu Buhari to enable citizens track and report on the progress of government projects across the country.

Agba said that the national dialogue had provided a viable platform to sustain the momentum following the approval of the National Monitoring and Evaluation policy, sensitise key stakeholders on its content, and establish partnerships to operationalize the policy in Nigeria.

“As you may all be aware, the National M&E policy was recently approved by National Economic Council and the Federal Executive Council to provide a guide in the tracking of government Projects and Programmes.

“In order to ensure the effective utilization of the policy, it is important that all the relevant stakeholders are properly sensitised and the required advocacy is carried out to gain their buy-in. It is based on this that the M&E department on the initiative of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), collaborated and worked out the modalities for organizing this National Dialogue on the National M&E Policy.”

Agba said the planning arm of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning was saddled with the responsibility for the development of National Plans for the country. Therefore, in realisation of the need to grow the economy on an inclusive growth and sustainable economic development trajectory, the Ministry initiated the process for the preparation of a National Development Plan 2021 – 2025 to guide government policies, programmes and projects as well as private sector operations from now to 2025 while this would be inspired by Nigeria Agenda 2050 which encapsulated our long-term vision for Nigeria.

He stated that: “Nigeria’s National Development Plan (NDP), 2021 – 2015 is a medium-term blueprint designed to unlock the country’s potentials in all sectors of the economy for a sustainable, holistic and inclusive national development, developed by the different facet of the Private Sector, sub-national government, civil society organisations (CSO) and facilitated by the Federal Government of Nigeria. This was deliberately done for inclusiveness, participation and citizen engagement to ensure no one is left behind.”

“Consequently, the Plan has a comprehensive M&E framework embedded in it. The National M&E system in the plan will facilitate the tracking of plan implementation, effectiveness, and identification of bottlenecks for early resolution. The M&E framework is critical for an evidence-based assessment of the Plan’s performance and to ensure that Nigeria can meet its goals. The focus of the M&E for this Plan is to institutionalize results-based planning and performance monitoring, reporting and use of evidence for responsive decision-making,” the Minister emphasised.

He disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning (FMFBNP) would oversee the monitoring and evaluation of the Plan, stressing: “The national M&E office will lead a nationwide monitoring and evaluation, coordinating with all states, ministries, departments, and agencies to collect periodic data for routine monitoring and the department will commission studies and other efforts for the overall evaluation of progress.”

He said that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were to coordinate M&E functions across departments and related agencies, prepare a performance improvement plan based on the findings and recommendations of the monitoring report, prepare quarterly and biannual reports on the performance of the respective MDAs and submit such reports to the National M&E Department.

According to him: “The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning will also undertake cost-effective and cost-benefit analysis to ensure interventions are providing value for money.”

Agba also explained that the National M&E department had some roles stipulated clearly in the NDP document to drive the process of M&E in the course of plan implementation.

According to him: “Some of the roles include promotion of strategic partnership at all levels of governance and all sectors; promotion of joint working and learning on M&E among MDAs and all stakeholders with key roles in strengthening M&E and the national M&E system; providing technical support to MDAs in building their M&E capacity; standardizing the M&E functions of the federal government; and developing a costed evaluation work plan.

He stated that the plan empowered the national M&E department with critical resources and institutional authority to drive centralized coordination of the Performance management system in Nigeria, adding that “It emphasises that there will be adequate and timely resources for the M&E unit to enable it to perform its functions effectively.”

He disclosed that the federal government would ensure value for money; as quarterly capital releases to MDAs would be tied to the outcome of the reports of the periodic monitoring and evaluation exercise carried out by the National Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Courtesy theconclaveng