NEC Sets Up Committees on Crude Oil Theft, Forex, Others

The National Economic Council, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Thursday, set up committees on Economic Affairs and Crude Oil Theft and management.

Both committees will be headed by Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazak and his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, respectively.

This followed “deliberations on critical economic matters and assessments of potential short-term, medium and long-term strategies for addressing pressing economic issues at the 138th meeting of NEC which was held virtually,” a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed Thursday.

The statement is titled ‘Shettima to NEC: burden of Nigerians is on our shoulders.’

The Economic Matters committee, to be chaired by the Kwara State Governor, is 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).

Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change, Rukaiya El-Rufai, would serve as its Secretary.

The Crude Oil Theft and Management Committee, an existing NEC committee, was reconstituted with Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State as its chairperson.

Other members are the Governor of Ogun State representing South West; the Governor of Plateau State (North Central); the Governor of Rivers (South-South) 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.

The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Tope Fasua, will serve on the committee.

Meanwhile, the VP charged members of the council to shelve the idea of vacation in the yuletide and proceed with governance matters to ease the burden of Nigerians.

He charged the council members to be alive to the demands of Nigerians, noting 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.”

He said his principal, President Bola Tinubu, believes 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 our 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,” the Vice President stated.

Keen about getting results of the government’s ongoing reforms in good time, the VP 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.

Shettima said 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 of October 31, 2023. As of October 31, 2023, the Excess Crude Account stood at $473,754.57, while the Stabilization Account was N32.06bn during the same period.

Development of Natural Resources Account as of October 31, 2023 stood at N156.77bn.