Soludo, Otti, Wale Edun, Bagudu, Kyari, Others Get Fresh Appointment As Details Of NEC Meeting Emerges

The National Economic Council (NEC) has constituted an Ad-hoc Committee to engage with the leadership of labour unions in a bid to create a forum for dialogue towards resolving issues surrounding the petrol subsidy removal across the States.

Naija News reports that the decision was reached at the 135th meeting of NEC chaired by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima in Abuja on Thursday.

The committee comprises the Nigerian Governors Forum Chairman, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo; Chairman of Progressives Governors Forum, Hope Uzodinma of Imo State; PDP Governors Forum Chairman, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, and Abia State Governor, Alex Otti.

Speaking at the meeting, the Vice President said the committee will liaise with the leadership of labour unions in the country to find a way forward on the emerging issues in the interest of the nation.

The Council also received progress reports on the ongoing nationwide distribution of rice, grains, fertilizer, other items to States and N5 billion financial support, provided by the Federal Government and commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for their interventions.

NEC noted the various interventions by State governments and urged them to upscale the distribution of palliatives towards alleviating the suffering of citizens especially the vulnerable groups.

The council also mourned the death of some military personnel in Niger State and observed a minute silence in honour of deceased, while commiserating with their families.

Below are other highlights of the meeting:

Excess Crude Account from 19th July to 14th August, 2023, $473,754.57

Stabilisation Account from 18th July to 14th August, N30,346,557,405.12

Natural Resources Account from 18th July to 14th August 2023, N115,175,616,159.65

PRESENTATION OF PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT OF FLOOD DISASTER ACROSS THE STATES IN NIGERIA BY GOVERNOR OF KOGI STATE  

The Governor at the 128th NEC Meeting held on 20th October, 2022, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum and Executive Governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, drew attention of Council to the devastating effect of the 2022 flooding which affected about 31 States of the Federation that had resulted in the loss of over 600 lives, displacement of millions of people, destruction of hundreds of thousands of houses and submersion of thousands of hectares of farmlands and appealed for urgent intervention from the Federal Government to address the impact of the menace on the people and infrastructure.

Consequently, Council resolved to setup a 5-man Ad-hoc Committee on flooding comprising of Governors of Jigawa, Kogi, Anambra, Bayelsa, Lagos and Yobe State. The following were also coopted into the Committee:

Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning

Honourable Minister of Water Resources

Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria

Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)

The Terms of Reference of the Committee was to “Review the current flooding situation in the country and design a template for compensation of victims”.

The Committee had its inaugural meeting on Thursday 10th November 2022 at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat. Highlight of the Meeting were as follows:

The Committee acknowledged the urgency of the assignment and hence the need to expedite action in order to table a draft report at the next NEC Meeting.

Meanwhile, Naija News reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday appointed Wale Edun as his Minister of Finance, Atiku Bagudu as his Budget and Economic Planning Minister and Abubakar Kyari as his Agriculture and Food Security Minister, amongst others.