In March 2024, Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council approved a raft of measures designed to bolster the economy and protect the poorest households from slipping into poverty. Measures approved at the meeting included the establishment of a consumer credit scheme, as well as the extension of social security payments to Certificate of Education (NCE) graduates upwards.
The Federal Executive Council meeting, which was staged at the Council Chambers, State House, Abuja, was presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The president established a committee to be led by Chief of Staff Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. Other members of the committee include Mr. Wale Edun, Minister of Finance; Lateef Fagbemi SAN, Attorney General of the Federation; and Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Planning.
Breakthroughs achieved at the Federal Executive Council meeting included a move to establish a consumer credit scheme with the utmost urgency. Chief of Staff Olufemi Hakeem Gbajabiamila, the Coordinating Minster of the Economy and Finance, Attorney General and Budget Minister have all been tasked with making the scheme a reality.
The Federal Executive Council will ensure that vulnerable households receive immediate social security benefits, although these payments are conditional on families providing national identify numbers and bank verification numbers. President Bola Tinubu also paved the way for immediate social security payments to be extended to NCE graduates, as well as holders of higher degrees.
The Federal Executive Council also sanctioned construction of a coastal superhighway between Lagos, Port Harcourt and Calabar by Hitech Construction Africa. After the meeting, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser, Information and Strategy, indicated that consumer credit would be established as a matter of urgency.
The president’s Chief of Staff Olufemi Gbajabiamila and the committee will oversee implementation of the Steve Oransaye report, which aims to reduce the cost of governance by scrapping duplicated government departments while merging others for increased operational efficiency.
As in many other countries, skyrocketing increases in the cost of food have stretched the income of Nigerian households, creating hardship across the country, particularly in vulnerable populations. With more than 100 million Nigerians already living in multidimensional poverty, this period of unprecedented inflation has created urgent need for social security support for struggling families.
Addressing journalists following the Federal Executive Council meeting, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, disclosed that the scheme would see unemployed youths across the country being paid stipends. Mr Edun explained that during this period of heightened food prices, the president was committed to doing all that could be done to assist in giving purchasing power to the poorest.
To that end, President Bola Tinubu has committed and instructed that the social security unemployment programme cater for the country’s youth, including unemployed graduates, as well as wider society. Wale Edun indicated that young unemployed people would receive support in the form of unemployment benefit, with the Federal Government working urgently to establish a consumer credit scheme with the goal of alleviating the pains of economic adjustment.
Created by Nigeria’s Federal Government with the aim of making consumer credit more available, the social consumer credit scheme will help to revive Nigeria’s economy faster by boosting consumer purchasing power. At the Federal Executive Meeting, President Tinubu highlighted several key successes achieved by the Federal Government, including the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), which had benefited some 400,000 citizens.
As part of the social security programme, direct payments will be made to 12 million Nigerian households with the proviso that every beneficiary be identified by their national identity number and bank verification number. This will ensure transparency and traceability, enabling the government to be clear who receives the money and when, ensuring that no one is paid twice and that everyone is properly identified before benefiting from the programme.