The global lender compared the West African country to the likes of Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, and Brazil, all of which according to the bank’s assessments are far above Nigeria.
A delegation from the World Bank led by Country Director, Ndiame Diop, and Practice Manager for West and Central Africa, Mr Johan Mistiaen, on Wednesday, met with Senator Abubakar Bagudu the Nigerian Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, where, according to Mrs Julie Osagie-Jacobs, the Director, of Information and Public Relations, the World Bank made their concerns known.
What the World Bank said
Mr Johan Mistiaen, in his address titled “Next Level Statistics to Support Nigeria’s Reform and Growth Agenda,” as seen in the Punch, noted that Nigeria has failed to meet up with its contemporaries relating to its statistical system.
This was later made public via a statement issued by Mrs. Julie Osagie-Jacobs.
“Earlier, Mr. Johan Mistiaen in his presentation on the next-level statistics to support Nigeria’s reform and growth agenda, observed that the country’s statistical performance was not at par with its aspirational peers as Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, and Brazil,” the statement read.
As per the statement, Mistiaen then went on to recommend a budget range for the improvement of Nigeria’s statistics infrastructure.
“He suggested that investing about $10-15m annually into the country’s statistical system can raise performance to that of its aspirational peers,” the statement adds.
In response, Bagudu affirmed that the National Bureau of Statistics’ autonomy will be upheld by the Federal Government.
He applauded the Bureau for always issuing reliable and systematic statistics that respectable international organizations have depended on.
The minister emphasized that the government will not meddle in the NBS’s internal affairs.
Additionally, he expressed gratitude to the World Bank for its continued technical and financial assistance to the agency, which he said was essential to the development of its institutional framework.
