The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) says Nigeria has recorded steady growth in its economy due to the political will of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju in Abuja on Monday, BMO said the country had recorded a number of positives on the economic front.
“We have seen how Nigeria has within a few days recorded some landmark strides on several fronts relating to the economy.
“One of them is the N5.2 billion trading surplus recorded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the month of August.
“It is gratifying that the figure is a 22 per cent increase on the N4.26 billion surplus posted in July and this, we believe, is a clear indication that the national oil company can indeed operate profitably.
“It also reflects the transparency that the Buhari administration is bringing into governance when one considers that an NNPC which operations had in the past been opaque is now issuing regular updates on its finances and operational expenditures.
“We also acknowledge that the value of Nigeria’s total trade in third quarter of 2019 stands at N9,187.6billion, representing a 6.77 per cent increase over the value recorded in second quarter,2019 and a 1.33 per cent increase on third quarter, 2018.
“And although there was a slight decline in import figure, the increase in export-led to a positive trade balance of N1,389.3billion during the period under review,” he said.
Akinsiju drew attention to an announcement by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) of an increase in power transmission capacity to 10,000 megawatts by July 2020.
“We recognise that this is a consequence of the installation of 68 transformers nationwide between 2017 and October 2019 through the implementation of the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme.
“There is no doubt that this will further improve electricity supply and also create a ripple effect in the formal and non-formal sectors in terms of job creation.
“It is a massive milestone in a country where previous administrations are on record to have spent billions of dollars over 20 years with little improvement in the country’s power generation and transmission capacity,” he said.
BMO chairman also identified the launch of a digital register of beneficial owners of mining and extractive licences by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) as a great step to clean up the industry and prepare it for additional domestic and foreign investments.
