Newsletter: National Economic Council (NEC) meets in Abuja — July 20, 2017

The National Economic Council, statutorily chaired by the Vice President, meets once a month, bringing together the 36 State Governors, Minister of Finance, Central Bank Governor and other senior Federal Government officials. The latest meeting held on Thursday July 20, 2017, at the State House, Abuja.
Highlights of the Meeting:
1. Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, and the Secretary to the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), Dr. Jumoke Oduwole disclosed that Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be ranked on an assessment of the ease of doing business within each State for the period 2014–2018, by the World Bank. The subnational process cycle which has already begun will culminate in the release of the report and rankings in the first half of 2018. The Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES) and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) will be providing support to the state governments as they implement their priority reforms. Details here
2. Update on the status of the 3 Special Accounts maintained on behalf of the Federal, State and Local Governments:
- Stabilisation Fund (‘Rainy Day’ savings) 0.5% of the Federation Account): Balance of 2.553 billion Naira as at July 19, 2017
- Natural Resources Fund (Established to support funding and development of Agriculture, Water Resources and Mining; 1.68% of Federation Account): Balance of 77.922 billion Naira as at July 19, 2017
- Ecological Fund (Intervention facility established to address the ecological problems ravaging communities across the country; 2% of the Federation Account): Balance of 27.466 billion Naira as at July 19, 2017
3. Update on the status of the Excess Crude Account (July 19, 2017): Current balance of USD 2.303 billion
4. The Governor of Gombe State presented an Interim report to the Council on the Forensic Audit of Revenue Accrued from Revenue Generating Agencies (RGAs) into Federation Account (FA), Excess Crude Account (ECA) and Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). The Council is now awaiting the final report.
5. The Ad-hoc Committee on the review of the Ecological Fund, set up by the Council in April 2017, and led by the Governor of Kaduna State submitted its report to Council, recommending among other things a robust governance structure and a stringent disbursement criteria to sanitize the management of the fund.
6. The Honourable Minister of Communication presented a Memo to the Council on need for harmonization of the Right of way charges in respect of telecommunication and related public utility infrastructure on Local Government, State and Federal Highways. The Memo invited all stakeholders to consider, adopt and approve the use of a ‘shared duct’ strategy, managed by a single designated Agency across all tiers of government, for the deployment of public utility infrastructure for effective and efficient service delivery.
