Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki has made a case for channelling domestic savings to development financing instruments to spur development.
The governor said this when he chaired the session on development financing at the induction of new and returning governors into the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), held in Abuja.
The governor argued that the N200bn investment in agriculture which contributed to wrestling Nigeria out of recession was enough testament to the need to deploy development financing to revitalise the Nigerian economy.
According to Obaseki, “The Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund, which we are investors as governors, has leveraged N5bn that we have given them to drive development in this country. It would make sense for us to take much of our domestic savings into our Sovereign Wealth Fund so that we can leverage more investment in our various states. The Central Bank, the Sovereign Wealth Fund and other development institutions have done well in the area of agriculture.”
“With N200bn, we have been able to invest in agriculture and move the country out of recession. Does it not make more sense for us to commit more of our resources to develop our states,” he said.
Noting that there was a need for states to channel funds to initiatives that guarantee greater returns and impacts for the people, he said, “Why should we be spending $6bn a year importing petroleum products. Does it not make more sense to use some of that money for development financing that would affect more Nigerians? The task is for us, the class of 2019, to make the case to get more funding available to development financing institutions so that we, in turn, can get financing to drive projects in our states.
