Tinubu attends NEC as council remains silent on minimum wage

In an unusual move, President Bola Tinubu on Thursday attended the 142nd meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Vice President Kashim Shettima is the chairman of the council which is expected to deliberate on the issues of the new national minimum wage.

The President’s presence comes against the backdrop of his decision to consult with necessary stakeholders, including state governors, all of whom are members of the council.

The president had said he would only submit a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly for adoption after such consultations.

However, at the end of the meeting, the council remained silent on whether or not it had considered the minimum wage issue.

Announcing the resolutions reached, the Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, who joined the governors of Imo, Kano and Kogi to brief correspondents, disclosed that the Federal Government had approved a $1 billion agricultural mechanization programme that will put in place 1,000 agro-processing service providers across the country with tractors.

He explained: “We will have a minimum of 2,000 tractors per year for the next five years and all other agricultural products will be used by at least 600,000 youth to run these 1,000 service centres.”

Noting that the developed plan will be rolled out as soon as possible, he said the project was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last Monday.

He spoke of a deal with John Deere and Tata to supply 2,000 tractors before the end of the year.

According to him, the Greener Imperative project, which is still under development, is a €950 million project that will be unveiled soon. Kyari noted that an agreement is planned with Belarus Tractors to supply 2,000 tractors per year for the next five years, with 9,000 implements and spare parts, among others.

The agriculture minister also said Saudi Arabia had expressed interest in 200,000 tonnes of red meat every year and 1 million tonnes of soybeans from Nigeria.

“We already had a meeting last week with our contractors and we developed a roadmap where we can supply and meet this demand.

“We are looking at partnerships with foreign governments, not necessarily to ask them to come and invest, but to ask them what we can produce so that we can sell to you and thus earn foreign currency,” he added.

In his remark, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State said the NEC had directed the subcommittee on crude oil theft to come up with comprehensive recommendations to end the menace at the next meeting.

He said that although the subcommittee was expected to submit its report at Thursday’s meeting, “it was not conclusive.”

For his part, the governor of Kano, Abba Yusuf, announced the constitution of the board of directors of the Niger Delta Power Holding, which, according to him, had been operating for a long time without a supervisory board.

He disclosed that it is made up of governors of Borno, Katsina, Imo, Ekiti, Kwara and Akwa Ibom states representing the different geopolitical zones.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, has spoken about the activation of the Presidential Food Systems Coordination Unit chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

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