[BREAKING] Olisa Agbakoba: ‘Disruptive Development Plan’ Needed To Achieve Proposed 500 Trillion Naira Budget By 2027
Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba, has urged a bold and radical overhaul of Nigeria’s governance and economic strategy, asserting that only a “disruptive development plan” can realistically achieve his proposed 500 trillion naira national budget target by 2027.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, following the release of his policy report “Governance and Economic Analysis and Forecast 2025”, Agbakoba acknowledged the apparent irony—and even absurdity—of such a lofty financial target. However, he insists the goal is possible if Nigeria is willing to abandon business as usual and embrace bold structural reforms.
“We’ve had national development plans for the last 60 or 70 years and I suggest to you that none have really worked,” he said, adding that the problem is not Nigeria’s resources, but how they are used. “What I’m suggesting in order to drive this process is an entirely disruptive development plan.”
Drawing parallels with global economic shifts—such as the US tariff shakeup under Trump, Mark Carney’s strategic moves in the bond market, and China’s efforts to decouple from the international trading system—Agbakoba argued that Nigeria, too, must rewrite its rulebook.
To build towards the 500 trillion naira budget, he outlined two critical interventions: political and economic governance reform.
On political restructuring, Agbakoba didn’t mince words. He called for a radical downsizing of Nigeria’s federal government, noting that bloated governance structures are draining the nation’s resources.
“There’s no way Nigeria can be successful unless it decapitates its current political arrangements. The federal government must downsize. You recall the Oronsaye report. I don’t understand why we still have the Office of the Head of Service, the SGF, and the Chief of Staff. The Office of HOS is a colonial relic,” he said. “If America runs with 16 departments, Nigeria shouldn’t have more than 10.”
Agbakoba stressed that for real economic transformation, the federal government must devolve power to states and local governments, turning them into active economic agents.
“The federal government must devolve powers to the states and the local governments so they all become economic-bearing entities,” he stated.
On economic governance, he took aim at Nigeria’s oil sector. “Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world that outsources its oil capacity to international oil companies,” he said. “My proposal is to do what the Saudi Arabians do and use simply service contracts. We have to own everything so that 80 to 90 percent of the wealth generated from oil stays here. Right now, nothing stays. Less than 10 percent.”
He cited the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as an example of what reform can achieve. “When we were talking about a 9 trillion naira economy, people said it wasn’t possible. But with Zacch Adedeji’s reforms, we’ve moved from 9 trillion to 50 trillion—and we’re headed for 100 trillion.”
For Agbakoba, this is proof that Nigeria has what it takes to meet its economic potential—but only if it abandons outdated structures and embraces disruptive, transformative change.
“It is possible,” he concluded. “It’s just a way to get things done in a different way.”
