A former Director in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Titus Okunrounmu, has advised the Federal Government to strategically reduce the cost of governance in 2025.

Okunrounmu gave the advice in an interviw with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ota, Ogun, noting that the high cost of governance had led to increased recurrent expenditure.

The former director of research at the CBN said that debt servicing by the Federal Government had consequently increased from N9.8 trillion in 2023 to N12.1 trillion in 2024.

He said that the Federal Government should only borrow for capital expenditure in order to facilitate repayment through proceeds from the projects.

Okunrounmu also commended the resuscitation of the Port-Harcourt refinery, which had since commenced production of fuel and other products.

“The resuscitation of Port-Harcourt refinery was a welcome development and a boost to Nigeria’s economy.

“This will help the federal government to stop exporting crude oil for importation of refined products into the country.

“In addition, the country would be able to export refined petrol products to West Africa countries,thus generating more revenue.” he said.

The ex-CBN director advised the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited on regular maintenance of the refineries in order for optimal capacity production and service delivery.