The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday rated the National Social Register compiled by the Muhammadu Buhari administration as lacking integrity and opted to work in collaboration with the subnational governments to compile a more credible, fact-based register.
To sustain the ongoing social intervention programme of the new administration, the Council decided to use, as an alternative to the discredited old register, the social registers compiled by the states for cash transfers and cash reward policy for public servants for six months.
The decision was part of those taken during the NEC meeting chaired by the Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Briefing State House correspondents on some of the decisions taken at the meeting, Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, said that the Council resolved that the states should come up with their registers, using formal and informal means to develop them, adding that all beneficiaries at the sub-national level (states) can easily be accessed.
He said: “We need to face the fact that we don’t have a credible national register.”
Soludo, while highlighting some of the decisions taken at the NEC meeting said one of the decisions taken was ways to cushion the impact of the recent petroleum subsidy removal and the need to pay outstanding liabilities of public servants, including pensions and gratuities in a bid to alleviate their hardships.
He further clarified: “Council also agreed that government will focus on funding Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with single-digit interest rates to support business growth.
“It also agreed to the immediate implementation of the Energy Transition Plan was discussed, focusing on transitioning to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for mass transit vehicles to reduce reliance on petrol.
“The council deliberated that government aims to set up manufacturing and assembly plants for electric vehicles (EVs) in each zone in the country in the long term, but in the meantime, to encourage the conversion to CNG to create employment and reduce petrol dependency.
“The council also addressed food security and food price escalation by allocating buffer stocks of grains for distribution to states which they can choose to sell them at a subsidized rate or distribute them for free to ease the burden on citizens”, Soludo added.
