The National Economic Council (NEC) Thursday set up an Economic Affairs Committee headed by the chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and governor of Kwara state Mr AbdulRahman AbdulRazak.
The NEC also set up a committee on Crude Oil Theft and Management headed by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state.
The Economic Affairs committee is saddled with the task of preparing a clear roadmap for dealing with petroleum subsidy, including a framework for defending wage negotiations, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President Mr Stanley Nkwocha said after the NEC meeting.
He said the committee is also mandated to look at the issues 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.
He said members of the committee include the Gombe State Governor (North East), Governor of Lagos (South West), Governor of Akwa Ibom (South-South), Governor of Anambra (South East), Governor of Niger (North Central) and Governor of Kaduna (North West) while the Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change Ms Rukaiya El-Rufai would serve as the secretary.
According to him, Crude Oil Theft and Management Committee has been reconstituted with Governor of Ogun State (South West); Governor of Plateau State (North Central), Governor of Rivers (South-South), Governor of Borno (North East), Governor of Jigawa State (North West), Governor of Abia State (South East), Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); GCEO of NNPC Limited, chairman of NDDC and Service Chiefs as members.
He said the secretariat of the committee would be domiciled at the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Tope Fasua would serve on the committee.
Speaking at the meeting, Vice President Kashim Shettima charged members of the National Economic Council to shelve the idea of vacation in the yuletide and carry on with issues of governance to ease the burden of Nigerians hanging on their shoulders.
He also charged NEC members to be alive to the demands of Nigerian, stressing that “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 rests the weight of responsibilities from which we cannot escape. We are returning to be judged by the promises we made to be here.”
The Vice President said President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has shown that the challenges inherited by his administration were surmountable, and has offered visionary leadership and 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.
