The National Economic Council on Thursday expressed worry over the increasing cases of corruption in the system with a promise to work out modalities to tackle the scourge.
The decision was taken at the council’s meeting presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.
State governors, the Attorney-General of the Federation; ministers of Finance, National Planning and Federal Capital Territory, as well as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, among others, are members of the NEC.
While briefing journalists at the end of the meeting, Niger State Deputy Governor, Mr. Ahmed Ibeto, said the issue of corruption in the system formed a major part of discussions at the meeting.
Ibeto said the council considered the report of the Minna National Discourse on Corruption, which was held by the Niger State Government in collaboration with the National Planning Commission.
He said, “Key recommendations of the seminar as presented by the organisers include the fact that good leadership and independence of the judiciary is paramount to checkmating corruption; a development plan is required for economic and social stability; punishing of offenders publicly; and that merit must be genuinely elevated above partisanship.
“Council agreed to look into the report and prepare inputs and contributions on how to work out the best approach on corruption in the country. The meeting of July 2013 is slated to discuss the issues of corruption in the country.”
The Director-General, Debt Management Office, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, highlighted the gains recorded by his office on public debt management, including the successful completion of the debt data reconstruction exercise in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory last December.
He said, “After the DDR exercise, the following was established: total debt of the Federal Government, states and the FCT stood at N8.07tn by December 2011, consisting of N6.85tn for domestic stock and N1.217tn for external stock.