President Bola Tinubu will today preside over the meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, expected to deliberate on final draft of the 2024 budget, tax review and other top economic reform initiatives.

The Council is the highest policy formulating body for the federal government and is composed of Ministers, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), the National Security Adviser and some top government officials.

The body was recently expanded to include 8 Permanent Secretaries of Ministries who are expected to defend Memos and other proposals.

This decision was reached after intense deliberations at the retreat for Ministers and political appointees.

The aimed is to ensure that Ministers have relevant supports at such presentation.

BusinessDay checks revealed that following the recent passage of the Midterm Economic framework and fiscal Policy document, the Council will be deliberating on the final proposals of the 2024 appropriation bill set for presentation to the National Assembly, soon.

This is as BusinessDay also gathered that the government is currently working on an Emergency Economic Intervention Bill, aimed at empowering the President to take measures to strengthen the economy.

The Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, headed by Taiwo Oyedele is also expected to brief members of the Federal Executive Council on the ongoing tax reforms recommended by the committee.

Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN , will also brief the Council on the ongoing policy reforms to address foreign exchange and other micro economic reforms embarked upon by the apex bank.

Issues around the federal government procurement policy reforms will also feature, as President Tinubu moves to review the 2007 procurement Act, signed into law in June, 2007, by former President Umaru YarAdua.

This followed debates over the continuous retention of the power to award contracts by FEC, a practice seen as contrary to the spirit and provisions in the Act.

Despite the provisions for the establishment of the National Council on Procurement to be headed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, with specific powers to oversee the award of contracts at the federal level, contract awards still dominate activities of FEC denying Nigerians more quality concentrations on sound policy deliberations, review of successes or failures in execution of government policies by the Ministries Departments and Agencies MDAs.

The recent Cabinet retreat had afforded the Council the opportunity to deliberate on the issue, with a resolve to remove contract awards from the council’s agenda and domicile it at a body to be constitutes for that purposes. (Business Day NG)

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