The Federal Government is considering a law to ensure that its economic reforms are sustained by successive administrations, with the aim of promoting policy consistency and boosting investor confidence.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Monday at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.
He said the government was exploring ways to establish a national economic policy framework backed by law to guide decisions on taxation, tariffs, subsidies, investment and industrial development.
Oyedele explained that the proposed legislation would help prevent future governments from abandoning economic policies because of short-term political interests.
“We now need to lock it in, in institutions, in law, as well as policy framework, so that it can be enduring,” he said during a panel discussion.
The minister added that the government was considering making compliance with the framework part of the requirements for appointing public officials.
According to him, the policy document could accompany appointment letters to ensure that political appointees understand and adhere to the country’s agreed economic principles.
However, Oyedele clarified that the proposed Nigeria Economic Policy Framework was still a consultation draft and had not been approved as government policy.
He said consultations would continue until November 27, 2026, after which the document would be submitted to the Federal Executive Council for approval and the National Economic Council for endorsement.
Earlier, the minister criticised Nigeria’s history of inconsistent economic policies, arguing that frequent reversals had discouraged investment and undermined previous reforms.
“Policy uncertainty is an invisible tax on enterprise. And unlike most taxes, it generates no revenue for government; it only destroys value and discourages investment,” he said.
The proposed framework recommends mandatory Policy Impact Assessments before major economic interventions. Such assessments would require regulators to provide evidence supporting proposed measures, identify their costs and beneficiaries, and specify how long they should remain in place.
It also proposes an annual National Economic Scorecard to be published by Independence Day, tracking indicators such as real wages, productive employment and poverty levels.
On fuel subsidy, Oyedele maintained that returning to artificially controlled prices would recreate economic distortions and increase the cost of correcting them in the future.
He argued that government policy should prioritise improving household incomes rather than keeping prices below sustainable market levels.
“Let’s not suppress prices. Let’s focus on raising income,” he said.
The minister also questioned the effectiveness of Nigeria’s industrial protection policies, revealing that locally assembled vehicles contained only about five per cent local content despite benefiting from tariffs and levies of up to 60 per cent.
He advocated temporary protection for domestic industries tied to measurable performance, alongside improvements in electricity supply, logistics and manufacturing capacity.
Oyedele further said the government was targeting low single-digit inflation before the end of 2027, with the expectation that improved price stability could create conditions for single-digit interest rates.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, said President Bola Tinubu had directed government officials to sustain the ongoing reforms despite concerns about their immediate effects on households.
“There will be no return to subsidy. There will be no return to those distortions,” Bagudu declared.
He added that the Federal Government had reached agreements with state governments on coordinating fiscal and monetary policies, improving infrastructure and security, and strengthening domestic production.
Bagudu also disclosed that more than $6bn had been mobilised from the World Bank and other development partners to support household resilience and economic opportunities.
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, cautioned against abandoning macroeconomic stability but argued that Nigeria’s growth rate of about four per cent was insufficient to deliver substantial reductions in poverty and unemployment.
He called for increased investment and faster economic expansion, while stressing the need to sustain stability.
“The macroeconomic framework, the stability that is back, must never be taken for granted,” Soludo said.
Other participants at the summit emphasised the importance of controlling inflation, improving electricity supply, reducing logistics costs and expanding exports to strengthen Nigeria’s productive capacity.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Olaniyi Yusuf, urged the government to ensure that economic reforms translated into lower living costs, more productive jobs and measurable improvements in citizens’ welfare.
The summit was held under the theme, “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity.”
