Governors of the 36 states have endorsed proposals
of the Federal Government Economic Management Team (EMT) under President
Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the economic recession.
The governors, at the meeting of the National
Economic Council (NEC) yesterday in Abuja, also gave backing to the Minister of
Budget and National Planning Udoma Udo Udoma and his Ministry of Finance
counterpart, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun for their policies, which they said are tailored
to revive the economy.
The governors met with Vice President at the
Presidential Villa to deliberate on the state of the economy where they
endorsed Udoma and Adeosun barely a day after the leadership of the Senate
called for re-assignment of the duo, citing incompetence and inability to
manage the economy.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the NEC meeting, Governor of Kebbi State Atiku Bagudu Abubakar said those in attendance expressed support for the plans and proposals of the government to tackle recession.
“Council members expressed confidence in and
unanimously commended the EMT, as well as the Budget and National Planning and
Finance ministers for their presentations to the council, praising their
efforts, competence and capabilities,” he said.
Governor Abubakar who was joined by his Oyo State
counterpart, Abiola Ajimobi and the deputy governor of Ogun State during the
briefing attributed the current economic predicament to the country’s
dependence on single commodity, crude oil.
They noted that the collapse of oil price to less
than $30 per barrel in Q1 2016 is another reason for the recession.
Highlights of the meeting which were later made
available to reporters by the vice president’s media office indicate that the
governors agreed that the economic challenge provides an opportunity to
restructure and reset the economy.
The statement said that the EMT was working on a
plan to inject funds into the economy through asset sales, advance payment for
licence renewals, infrastructure concessioning and use of recovered funds to
reduce funding gaps in the budget.
The NEC was also briefed on the balance in Excess
Crude Account (ECA) which is now $2.453 billion as at September 20, 2016.
The meeting also discussed government’s target of
N1billion fund for Public Private Partnership (PPP) on housing development and
mortgage provision. The money is expected to deliver family housing priced from
as low as N2.5 million up to N18 million delivered in a ready-to-occupy
condition with essential services (water and power connected). The delivery
target is 400,000 to 500,000 housing units per annum.
Adeosun reported to the council that N50 billion
has so far been disbursed to state governments, and the facility is ongoing.
Guardian
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