BY NAOMI UZOR

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, has its decried exemption from Federal Government’s policy formulations.

In a chat with Vanguard, the President of LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, said the Federal Government is introducing so many programmes, activities and policies without involving the chamber in any of its policy formulation.

“Government is introducing so many programmes, activities and policies but you just see some of these things being announced   in and out on televisions, the newspapers, but we need to be carried along as a chamber of commerce. That is not being done.

You start scouting, scavenging for the information like the dry season farming funding which the president announced recently, We had to start scouting for information about it, that is not good. We don’t want to be irrational, we want to be part and parcel of their policy formulation, so we will know how our members can benefit or participate”

he said. Bello noted that the economy is made up of the public and private sector and members of the chamber who are the private sector operators would like to be part of government policy formulation so as to know how their members can benefit or participate.

“They are doing a lot, so many incentives, but who are these incentives made for? Are they not for our members? When we are not carried along, how are we are going to know what to benefit?

The area of energy is being done, the area of oil and gas, that is the cash cow of the economy, that is where the money is being made, but it is full of uncertainties and why ?

This is because there is no guide line, the law that is being expected is the PIB, which we are praying that the National Assembly to do something on this fast.

If this is done, if the fiscal responsibilities are being put in place and well defined, then a whole lot will happen in the oil and gas and government budget implementation, the budget process.

The structure of the budget process as it is right now cannot take us anywhere; something serious has to be done” he stated. 

According to him, government is the largest spender of our resources and if the resources are being spent the way things are being structured now, we won’t get anywhere.

He added that a situation whereby about 76 percent is being spent on consumables or recurrent expenditure, then just 24 percent is left for capital expenditure is not