NEC meeting deadlocked over sovereign fund
By Daniel Idonor
ABUJA— TALKS on the possible way out of disagreement between the Federal Government and the Governors of the 36 States at National Economic Council (NEC) which held yesterday ended in deadlock.
The bone of contention at the meeting which was presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo remains the sources of funding for the planned Sovereign National Wealth Fund (SNWF).
At the last meeting of NEC the refusal of the governors to convert the excess crude account to fund the SNWF led to the postponement of a decision on how the government planned to fund it. Consequently a committee was set up to look at the issue.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents, after NEC meeting, Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun state joined by the Minister of National Planing, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido, said the governor took a critical look at the establishment of the fund and agreed that the SNWF was not only desirable but also long overdue.
No decision reached
He stated further that no decision was reached at yesterday’s meeting on how the government planned to source money for the take-off of the fund.
Governor Daniel said following the stalemate a committee comprising the minister of finance, minister of national planning, the attorney general and minister of justice, governors of Kwara, Sokoto, Rivers, Adamawa, Anambra, Ogun and the governor of CBN was constituted to workout the modality for the take-off of the SNWF which include the sources through which the government wants to fund it.
The fund if fully established would among other things reduced the country’s vulnerability to significant external shocks resulting from global oil price fluctuation; ensure inter-generational equity; support domestic efforts by investing in critical infrastructure; serve as catalyst for attracting additional local and foreign investment and provide a powerful signaling effect to external investors in terms of enhanced macroeconomic framework, with associated positive impact on Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating and cost of investment capital.
