By Cross Udo, Abuja

The National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday said the Federal Government has approved N5bn grant to be given to each of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the procurement of grains as well as five trucks of rice to each state as palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

The NEC also approved the distribution of 40, 000 bags of maize to be distributed to states.

This came as the Federal Government also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to distribute food items to states sharing borders with Niger Republic over the recent political instability in the country.

These were among the outcomes of the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State said the approval of N5bn and trucks of rice and grains were part of measures to bring temporary solutions to the high cost of living caused by the subsidy removal as the government continued to work with more enduring programmes.

He said the states are to purchase 100,000 bags of rice and beans among other items.

Zulum said that NEC mandated NEMA to distribute food items to states sharing borders with the Niger Republic.

He said, “NEC met today (yesterday) and expressed serious concerns as regards increasing cost of food items, the increasing cost of transportation amongst others as a result of subsidy removal.

“To cushion the effect of subsidy removal, the federal government released five trucks of rice to each state last week.

“Furthermore, to cushion the effect of food shortages across the country, the federal government has approved the sum of N5bn to be given to each state for the procurement of 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilisers.

“This funding has to be shared with a formula as follows:  52 per cent of this money is given to states as grants, while 48 per cent of the N5bn is to be paid back on an instalment basis within 20 months to the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) by the states and the local government’s areas in Nigeria.

“The Council commended the efforts of the federal government under the leadership of President Tinubu as well as the CBN. We have also commended the efforts of NEMA in cushioning the effects of the subsidy removal.

“Council has taken bold decisions to ensure speedy release of grains and other items to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on the less privileged in the society.

“Council has also taken note of the $800m loan and insists that it be strictly used for the intended purpose and based on accurate and acceptable register. The $800m announced by the President will go to Nigerians by an accurate social register.

“Furthermore, Council has also noted the package that was announced by the president to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, amounting to about N500bn.

“This fund has to be distributed to the following sectors MSMEs, industrial sector, about N125bn will go to cash transfers, agricultural sector as well as gas expansion for buses.

“Because of the increasing cost of fossil fuel, the federal government intends to establish more gas stations in Nigeria, procure more gas-powered buses, CNG buses, as well as electric buses to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.

“Furthermore, NEMA will also liaise with states to distribute foodstuffs to the people immediately, especially those affected in the frontline states that are bordering Niger Republic because of the influx of refugees.

“The Council has also tasked the states to dialogue with the labour unions leadership.  A committee made up of the Anambra State Governor, NGF Chairman and others has been nominated to interface with labour.

“The most important thing that the Council has taken note of is that all these palliatives that are being mentioned now are temporary solutions.  Council has decided to invest in medium and longer-term sustainable solutions that will ensure the availability of food and non-food solutions in Nigeria, especially investing in commercial agriculture and also investing in irrigated agriculture.

“NEC is calling on Nigerians and labour to be calm, law abiding s the president is determined to address the issues at hand.”

On his side, the Governor of Anambra state, Prof. Charles Soludo said that the review of the social register was in progress.

He said Nigeria was already having refugees from Niger Republic which he said is affecting the distribution of palliatives.

*We’ve only received N2bn, says Kaduna Gov Sani

But the Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani said only N2bn has so far been given to states instead of the N5bn approved

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State stated that a sub-committee was constituted last year to propose modalities to address the imminent food crisis due to the flooding and possible source of funding for palliatives to victims.

He said, “The Sub-committee was to be chaired by the Executive Governor of Kebbi State and the following as members: Ministries of Agriculture, Humanitarian, Finance, NEMA, and CBN.

“NEC Secretariat to develop and forward a Template with an accompanying letter to all the affected States to collect data on Preliminary Assessment of the impact of the flood in the affected communities, harmonize the data, and produce a report of their findings to the Committee.”

On the limitations, he said, “The exercise would have been more successful and effective if all the affected States had responded as and when due and according to provisions made in the template. Some of the limitations include the following: Delay or non-submission of filled templates by some states.

“Only 16 out of the total number of affected states forwarded their submissions to the NEC secretariat to date as expected. About 15 others were yet to do so. The submissions from defaulting states are awaited to update the database.

“Some of the states that submitted did not fully comply with requisitions of the template thereby making some of their submissions difficult to process by the automated system. There is a need for compliance with laid-down processes to allow for a higher degree of uniformity especially considering the huge volume of data involved.

“Only a few states reached out to the Council Secretariat’s Technical Team for possible guidance and assistance in the exercise. States are encouraged to take advantage of the Secretariat’s personnel to address important concerns where necessary.

“Only a few states indicated financial implication for the damages caused thereby making it difficult to propose a required amount of intervention.

“Some submissions were not done according to the template which makes it difficult to ascertain the financial implications of such states.”

The NEC recommended that the plight of victims of the unfortunate flood disaster across affected states of the federation could be alleviated if the much-needed intervention from the Federal Government materialised without further delay.

“There is, therefore, the need to expedite the release of funds to affected states as recommended by designated Committees constituted by the Federal Government to that effect. This would go a long way in addressing the needs of the victims as well as offset debt incurred by some States to assist their citizens,” it said.

NEC in its resolution said the secretariat and officials of the Office of the Vice President should visit the affected states for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation on the ground and that the exercise will authenticate the data submitted by the state to determine needed intervention.

“That Federal Government’s immediate intervention to be expeditiously carried out by NEMA, Ecological Fund Office, and other relevant agencies. States to assure maximum cooperation. NEC resolves that all hands should be on deck to assure appropriate submission and data presentation.  The quality of data collected should be enhanced to meet international standards. That the challenges of flooding deserve concerted and collective effort.

“There is a need to strengthen NEMA as a structure and sustainable adaptation measures for the citizens. In mobilizing resources to stem the tide of flooding, there is a need to look beyond NEMA.

“NEC Secretariat to come up with recommendations on the roadmap towards addressing the flood situation.”

He said the Excess Crude Account from 19th July to 14th August 2023, is $473,754.507, Stabilisation Account from 18th July to 14th August, N30, 346,557,405.12, while Natural Resources Account from 18th July to 14th August 2023, is N115, 175,616,159.65.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said that the Director-General of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, made a presentation on how to explore a NEC agenda for macroeconomic stability and shared prosperity.

He said the Presentation was to inform the council on achieving low Inflation and stimulation Growth and Macroeconomic Objectives.

He explained that the objectives of macroeconomic stability are a high and stable economy, low Inflation Growth Price level, unemployment Account, favourable current low balance, and stable exchange rate account balance

He said that the current macroeconomics landscape showed that investment inflows have dwindled since 2019, likewise the country’s investment/GDP ratio; Crude Oil exports and refined petroleum products imports dominate Nigeria’s trade structure.

He further said that Nigeria’s naira position against major trading currencies deteriorated, while weak forex supply and heightened demand for imports remain core drivers of exchange rate instability.

Besides, he said market volatility has persisted despite recent forex alignment, driven by pressure on forex demand that widens the gap between official and parallel market rates due to inadequate supply and speculative tendencies and that external reserves have remained under pressure as it fell by 8.3 per cent from 37.1 billion in January 2023 to 33.9 billion in July 2023.

The recommendations are that “The NEC must insist on pushing a national legislative reform agenda for national competitiveness. Nigeria must resolve the legislative binding constraints to our national competitiveness, NESG through nassber, our partnership with the national assembly and the Nigerian bar association has identified over 115 legislations that hinder growth, in the last few years, 10 legislations have been passed (including the cama 2020 and the pia 2021.)”