Abuja, July 9, 2024 – The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the newly inaugurated Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) as a bold strategy by President Bola Tinubu to streamline the roles of all tiers of government as part of steps to stabilize the economy.
This, according to the group, will ensure better coordination between governments at all levels, on one hand, and the Organized Private Sector, on the other hand.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, TMSG argued that this was the first time that a President will go beyond the statutory National Economic Council (NEC) to attempt to get the economy running in collaboration with all key stakeholders.
“When the Presidency rolled out the names of the members of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council as approved by President Bola Tinubu in March this year, many people were taken by suprise for a number of reasons.
“This is because it came few months after an Economic Management Team (EMT) was set up but it also emerged that the EMT, comprising 13 ministers and the Central Bank Governor and led by the Minister of Finance Wale Edun, would serve as a working group under the Presidential Council.
“So, rather than have different groups, including the NEC working on the economy, the President now has everyone working in the PECC under his headship.
“We see this as a unique and creative development that will engender cooperation and ensure that everyone from the central government and sub-national governments to the private sector are working together harmoniously.
“It is an affirmation that an integrated approach is required to tackle economic challenges with the understanding of the need to bridge any existing gap in relationship amongst all stakeholders.
“So, we believe that with key public and private sector players sitting together in the same room to take economic decisions, there will be no room for any form of misunderstanding as decisions are arrived at with greater thoughtfulness and better transparency. There is, therefore, a bigger opportunity for such decisions to be well implemented.
“It is against this background that we emplace the President’s decision to commit N2trn to stabilizing the economy under the stabilisation emergency plan in the next six months.
“A breakdown of the N2 trn package as presented by the Finance Minister shows that the government will be investing about N350bn into Health and Social Welfare; N500bn into Agriculture and Food Security; N500bn for the Energy and Power sector and a general business support of about N650bn.
“For us, what the President did was to table the plan before people who would be saddled with its implementation in order to have inputs because even the governors who many Nigerians accuse of not doing much before now, are also represented in the council by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum.
“We also find it gratifying that President Tinubu was specific in urging the Food Security and Nutrition Council to ensure it provides food for Nigerians at an affordable price.
“We also understand that the government is working on reducing interest rate, which currently stands around 30% for businesses aside from making it easier for them to access funds at cheaper rates.
“So, like many Nigerians, we are looking forward to seeing the effects of the economic stabilisation package in the next six months across the identified sectors.
“We are, however, convinced that with the involvement of the private sector, this initiative will lead to more jobs and a better environment for private businesses to thrive. So President Tinubu deserves credit for this wonderful initiative.”
TMSG urged Nigerians to see the move as yet another reflection of President Tinubu’s readiness to keep to the terms of his agreement with the people. (GBN)
