"Nigeria may experience another economic recession in 2020," Governor warns

Nineteen months after emerging out of recession, the country's economy may be heading for the rock bottom once again.

Zamfara state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, disclosed this during the induction ceremony of newly elected governors into the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Yari, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governor, urged Nigerians to prepare for another cycle of recession by mid 2020 and the third quarter of 2021.

Yari, who chairs the forum, urged state governors to cooperate in boosting the economy in line with the global best practices.

He urged state governors to work harder to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to enable them execute more projects and reduce over-dependence on the federation account as the means of promoting the social well-being of their people.

According to him, the NGF and the National Economic Council (NEC) led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, have agreed that borrowing was an unreliable alternative to solving economic problems.

He urged the incoming governors and other ties of government to multiply revenue generation bases as that would help change the course of doing government business for the overall interest of the people.

“Borrowing is never a reliable alternative to solving our economic problems," Yari said. "We must work hard among all the tiers of government to multiply our revenue generation bases so that together we change the course of doing government business for the betterment of our people.

“In so doing, key revenue agencies like the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigerian Customs Service, and other sister agencies must be made to work more effectively now that Mr. President has signed the much awaited national minimum Wage law, which pegs the minimum workers salaries at N30,000 per month.”

While calling for the full diversification of the economy, Yari urged the incoming governors to strengthen tax laws and encourage Nigerians to pay their taxes.

Nigeria officially entered a recession for the first time in more than two decades, in August 2016. Figures showed that economy had contracted for five consecutive quarters.

However, on September 5, 2017, following a 0.55% growth, Nigeria exited recession.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, had warned that Nigeria may slip into another recession as the economy was showing some signs of weakness.