Gift Ekwueme
Lagos — The National Economic Council, NEC, has set up committees on Economic Affairs and Crude oil theft and management following deliberations on critical economic matters and assessments of potential short-term, medium and long-term strategies for addressing pressing economic issues.
The committees were raised during the 138th meeting of NEC which held virtually on Thursday and are to be headed by Kwara State governor, Alh AbdulRahman AbdulRazak, and his Imo State counterpart, Senator Hope Uzodimma, respectively.
The Economic Matters Committee, to be chaired by Kwara State governor, AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman, was tasked with preparing a clear roadmap for dealing with petroleum subsidy, including a framework for defending wage negotiations, exchange rate management and fiscal consolidation sustainability, liquidity management and inflation, medium term investment and growth, fiscal transparency and accountability, as well as state of emergency on food production for 2024.
Members of the committee include the Gombe State governor, representing North East; governor of Lagos (South West); the governor of Akwa Ibom (South-South); the governor of Anambra (South East); the governor of Niger (North Central), and governor of Kaduna (North West).
Rukaiya El-Rufai, Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change is to serve as Secretary of the committee.
The Crude Oil Theft and Management Committee, an existing NEC committee, has been reconstituted with Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State as the chairman. Other members are the governor of Ogun State (South West); the governor of Plateau State (North Central); the governor of Rivers (SouthSouth) governor of Borno (North East); governor of Jigawa State (North West); the governor of Abia State (South East); Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; CBN governor; GCEO of NNPCL, NDDC chairman, and service chiefs.
The secretariat will be domiciled at the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Tope Fasua, will serve on the committee.
Meanwhile, the NEC chairman, Vice President Kashim Shettima has charged members of the Council to shelve the idea of vacation in the yuletide and continue with issues of governance to ease the burden of Nigerians and to be alive to the demands of Nigerians.
He noted: “As the year draws to a close, none of us in this chamber should anticipate a vacation. I tend to think so because upon our shoulders rest the weight of responsibilities from which we cannot escape. We are returning to be judged by the promises we made to be here.”
According to him, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has shown that the challenges inherited by his administration are surmountable, and has offered visionary leadership and presented a coherent development plan to assist in the country’s pursuit of order, abundance, and stability.
“Each of us owes their constituents the scorecard of their stewardship in these few months of translating ideas into tangible actions.
“That’s why we can’t afford to fail, and the new year must be, for us, a timeout to reflect on how we have fared so far and what we must do differently to keep the hope of the nation alive,” he said.
The vice president stressed the need for the citizens to feel the positive impact of fuel subsidy removal and forex unification, noting that high inflation and cost of living are global challenges that have affected the economies of all countries.
He further added that they should be considered as enough “inspiration for us to come together and tackle ours through realistic interventions.”
The council also received an update on account balances as at 31st October 2023. As of 31st October 2023, the Excess Crude Account, stood at $473,754.57, while the Stabilisation Account was N32,063,186,474.96 during the same period. Development of Natural Resources Account as at 31st October 2023 stood at N156,770,745,529.74.
