Vice President Kashim Shettima has charged the National Economic Council (NEC) to sustain ongoing economic reforms until improvements recorded at the macroeconomic level translate into jobs, stronger purchasing power, increased business confidence and better living conditions for Nigerians.
Shettima, who spoke at the 160th meeting of NEC at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, said the Federal Government and states must remain focused on implementing policies beyond their announcement, stressing that continuity and measurable outcomes were critical to earning public confidence.
The Vice President, who chairs the Council, said a government should be judged not merely by the policies it initiates, but by its determination to follow them through until they produce tangible result
‘There is no doubt that a serious government is measured by the matters it refuses to abandon. While attention may reveal a problem, continuity determines whether the problem yields to policy’, he said.
Shettima noted that improvements in revenue, debt management, production and investment would be of limited significance unless they ultimately ease the cost of living and improve conditions at the household level.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said the gains of the administration’s reforms must increasingly become evident in the daily experiences of ordinary Nigerians.
‘Macroeconomic progress must therefore continue its passage into jobs, purchasing power, business confidence and stronger subnational economies, because numbers become politically meaningful when citizens recognise themselves in their improvement’, the Vice President said.
He urged NEC to ensure sustained follow-through on existing programmes and commitments, warning that emerging priorities must not displace unfinished responsibilities of government.
‘Continuity is a form of accountability: yesterday’s promise still deserves a place on today’s table, and no new priority absolves us of an old responsibility’, Shettima said.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had placed on NEC the responsibility of making cooperation among the different tiers of government productive and ensuring that policies were converted into outcomes Nigerians could see and feel.
‘A government that remembers earns the confidence of its people because its promises do not expire when the microphones are switched off’, the Vice President added.
Meanwhile, NEC endorsed the Revised National Social Protection Policy, NSPP 2026-2030, presented by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s social protection architecture.
The Council also urged states to align their social protection policies, laws, budgets and implementation plans with the revised national framework.
The NSPP 2026-2030 provides a national policy framework for strengthening social protection coordination, financing, implementation, monitoring and accountability across the federation.
Under the revised policy, a National Social Protection Council is to be established to provide overarching oversight for the coordination and implementation of social protection interventions nationwide.
The council will be chaired by the Vice President, while the Ministers of Budget and Economic Planning, Labour and Employment, and Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction will serve as vice chairmen.
The Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning will serve as the secretariat, while six governors, representing each of the country’s six geopolitical zones, will serve as members.
In another development, the Federal Government informed NEC that it had awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of 13 police training institutions across the country.
The rehabilitation exercise, expected to be completed within three weeks, is intended to prepare the institutions for the commencement of training programmes by the Nigeria Police Force.
The update on the rehabilitation programme was presented to the Council during Thursday’s meeting.
The 160th NEC meeting brought together governors, ministers and other statutory members of the Council to deliberate on economic, security and social development issues affecting the federation.