Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu and immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, at NISER, in Ibadan, last Friday.
● Urge other ministers to emulate duo
By Our Reporter
The collaboration between the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, and the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba has excited top management staff members of the ministry.
The Ministry had, consequent upon the approval of the incumbent minister, invited the immediate past minister to deliver a paper entitled “Strategic Thinking for Progressive Governance in the 21st Century” at the 22nd Joint Planning Board (JPB) and National Council on development Planning (NCDP) meeting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Thursday, September 14, 2023.
After the Osogbo event, Senator Bagudu had requested Prince Agba to join his delegation on a familiarization visit to the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, which is one of the agencies under the ministry, where they were received by the management team led by the Director General, Professor Antonia Taiye Simbine.
An excited top management staff member of the Ministry applauded the camaraderie between the minister and his immediate predecessor, describing it as a positive development.
“The minister, His Excellency, Senator Atiku Bagudu, has set an exemplar for collaboration between the former and the incumbent ministers in the administration of the Budget Ministry. This administrative style or disposition to harness the wealth of experience of his predecessor is quite commendable,” the staff member said.
Another top officer expressed the hope that other ministers would learn from the good example by Senator Bagudu by reaching out to their predecessors in office for collaboration and/or partnership that would help in the achievement of ministries and ministers’ key deliverables.
It would be recalled that Prince Agba was Minister of State for Budget and National Planning from late 2019 to May 29, 2023 during which he supervised the preparation of annual budget, helping to achieve a predictable Janaury to December budget calendar; and the preparation of the National Development Plan (NDP 2021-2025) and Agenda 2050, among other key achievements.
