Osinbajo presides over 5th virtual NEC meeting

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday presided over a virtual meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting was the fifth virtual meeting as the nation complies with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocols on COVID-19.

The governors joined the virtual NEC meeting from their respective states.

At the last virtual meeting on Sept. 17, the council announced that 15 states had qualified to benefit from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) for funding education as part of measures to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the sector.

It listed the states as: Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kano, Nassarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara.

Constitutionally, the vice president is the chairman of NEC which meets monthly to deliberate on the coordination of economic planning and programmes of various levels of government.

NEC comprises the 36 state governors, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Minister of Finance, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other relevant government officials whose duties revolve on the economy.