The federal government is proposing a law that would make it impossible for future governments to reverse economic reforms, including tax policy, subsidies, and other policies.
The finance and economy minister, Taiwo Oyedele, said this during the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Monday.
Mr Oyedele said the proposed legislation is part of efforts to ensure policy consistency and prevent a return to practices considered inimical to the economy.
“We now need to lock it in, in institutions, in law, as well as policy framework, so that it can be enduring,” the minister said.
He explained that the federal government sought national consensus on a law-backed economic policy framework to provide binding principles for future policy decisions.
According to him, the proposal was essentially meant to prevent future administrations from abandoning reforms for short-term political considerations, particularly in areas such as petrol subsidy removal.
The minister added, “Any ideas of returning it, we should forget about it. That economic policy framework, you will see by the time you start responding to us, part of the question we ask is, should we enact it into law? How do we strengthen the institutions?”
Noting that the framework could become part of the screening process for government appointments, Mr Oyedele clarified that the policy framework remained a consultation draft and had not become a government policy.
The minister decried a history of inconsistent economic policies under successive governments, adding that successive governments had repeatedly undermined earlier reforms.
“Policy uncertainty is an invisible tax on enterprise. Unlike most taxes, it generates no revenue for government. It only destroys value and discourages investment,” Mr Oyedele added.
The economic policy framework consultation draft, available on the finance ministry’s website, sets out a standing set of principles, decision rules, responsibilities, and outcome measures to guide economic policy, regardless of the administration in office. Public consultation opened on Monday and will end on November 27.