The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has said the 2024 economic policies of the government were unfair to the private sector.
The President of NACCIMA, Dele Kelvin Oye, said the private sector bore the burden of the economic policies of the federal government.
In his New Year message on Sunday, titled, ‘Statement on Options for Economic Reform and Consequences for The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027,’ Oye stated that all data and metrics showed that only the public sector recorded success in the economy.
He explained that the development was abnormal for the country and showed the unfriendly business environment private sector players operated in 2024.
“We should agree that the 2024 economic performance was unsatisfactory for the private sector.
“All data, metrics and consequent statistics confirmed that the Nigerian private sector has borne fully the negative burdens of the current economic reforms while, in contrast, the Nigerian public sector has continued to thrive and expand,” he stated.
The NACCIMA president also decried that the government recorded revenue increase to teh detriment of private sectors. He pointed out that the revenue increase was a transfer of wealth and capital from the private sector to the public sector through taxes in different forms.
“For avoidance of doubt, payment of customs duties and taxation are not due to improved government productivity.
“These revenues are purely private sector revenues, which constitute a transfer of wealth and capital from the productive private sector to an ever-expanding unproductive public sector.
“The public sector does not own factories nor does it produce any goods and services sold to the customers. Rather, it extracts value from the citizens through regulatory fiat. Awarding contracts is not the same as enhancing production,” he stated.
On the 2025 budget, Oye called for a cut in the cost of governance. He questioned the allocation in the 2025 budget for government functionaries.
“The Nigerian budget for elected and unelected politicians can be adjusted. The size and number of government-funded agencies can be reduced and taxes should be further reduced, which will attract greater private sector investment,” he said.
He also condemned the 2025 budget deficit, which he feared that the loans to be obtained would be pushed down on the private sector players.
“It is clear that government borrowing and deficits will be repaid by private sector taxes and levies. Therefore, unless there is a consistent effort to reduce the size of government through technology and policy efficiency, these economic vulnerabilities will drive us further away from a productive balanced resilient economy that can thrive independently without excessive borrowing,” Oye added.