VP Shettima Presides Over NEC Meeting

The 137th National Economic Council meeting is now being presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The meeting on Thursday, the fourth of the Tinubu administration, takes place over two months after the Council’s previous meeting on September 28, when it was discussed priority topics for the next three and a half years, including as security, welfare, and economic stability.

VP Shetimma reminded the governors and other NEC members that the weight of the difficult decisions to save Nigeria’s economy rests on their collaboration and goodwill during his opening remarks at the most recent NEC meeting, which was entitled “Planning for Stability: Our Agenda for Economic Growth in 2024.”

The Vice President presides over the NEC, a statutory organization tasked with advising the President on matters pertaining to the country’s economy. Members of the NEC include the governors of the 36 states that make up the federation, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Minister of Finance, and other relevant parties.

All of the governors, with the exception of those from Akwa Ibom, Kano, Lagos, Enugu, Osun, Borno, Nasarawa, and Adamawa States, who are represented by their deputies, are present for this month’s meeting, which is probably the final one for 2023.

But The PUNCH saw that once the meeting started, the state’s allotted seat remained empty, and neither Governor Godwin Obaseki nor his deputy, Philip Shaibu, were in attendance.