President Bola Tinubu on Thursday inaugurated his Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC), drawn from different sectors of society in the drive to strengthen the economy.
After inaugurating the Council, President Tinubu presented the outcomes of his review of the accelerated stabilisation and advancement plan, which seeks to inject N2 trillion into the economy in the next six months.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who led selected members of the Council to address newsmen after the briefing, gave a breakdown of the areas to benefit from the emergency funding to include Health, Agriculture, Energy/Power, and other areas.
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“The President has just inaugurated the Presidential Economic Coordination Council and that is a body that is made up of the President's Economic Management Team, the Legislature, represented by the leaders of the National Assembly; the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as very importantly, the sub-nationals, represented by the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, and, of course, the elite of the private sector.
“They were presented with the outcomes of Mr. President's review of the accelerated stabilisation and advancement plan and that was an emergency plan to cover the next six months, which Mr. President had directed that a combination of his own Economic Management Team and the sub-nationals, the governor's level, and the private sector put together for his consideration.
“The sum of that very important exercise is that a N2 trillion package involving N350 billion funding for Health and Social Welfare; N500 billion funding for Agriculture and Food Security; N500 billion for the Energy and Power sector and general business support of about N650 billion.
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“In addition to a range of policy measures and tax measures, there is a range of executive orders which Mr. President has signed and which are being gazetted to ease the cost of doing business at this particular time,” he said.
President Tinubu announced the constitution of the Council, which he personally chairs, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on March 27, 2024.
Other members of the PECC are Vice President Kashim Shettima, Vice-Chairman; President of the Nigerian Senate; Chairman, Nigeria Governors' Forum; Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security; Aviation and Aerospace Development and Budget and Economic Planning.
Others include Ministers of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy; Industry, Trade and Investment; Labour and Employment; Marine and Blue Economy; Power; State, Petroleum Resources; State, Gas; Ministers of Transportation and Works.
The PECC, which comprises 13 key members of the organised private sector, joining for a period not exceeding one year, subject to the President's directive, including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr Tony Elumelu, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Ms. Amina Maina, Mr Begun Ajayi-Kadir, Mrs Funke Okpeke, and Dr Doyin Salami.
Other PECC members from the private sector are Mr Patrick Okigbo, Mr Kola Adesina, Mr Segun Agbaje, Mr Chidi Ajaere, Mr Abdulkadir Aliu, and Mr Rasheed Sarumi.
