…Govs will be part of the plan, says VP

Meanwhile, some State Governors may soon join in the membership of the Economic Sustainability Committee as the implementation of the Sustainability Plan proceeds.
This hint was dropped by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while presiding over a virtual meeting of the National Economic Council Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governors, according to a statement by the media aide to Vice President Osibanjo, Mr Laolu Akande, had made a presentation at the NEC on how the states could collaborate effectively with the Federal Government on the implementation of the recently approved N2.3 trillion stimulus programme
According to Akande, the governors welcomed the plan and committed to working with the Federal Government.
Quoting the Vice President, he said , possibly two state governors could join the Committee for the implementation phase of the plan, as according to him, such would be helpful and bring synergy.
“Besides, state governments will also be actively involved in the process of executing projects in the plan, especially such projects based in the domains of respective States, in collaboration with other stakeholders and partners,” Osinbajo was said to have noted.
It would be recalled that while receiving the report of the Economic Sustainability Committee, President Muhammadu Buhari had described it as a National Plan which had gone through wide consultations. The endorsement of the Governors at today’s NEC follows the President’s description of the Sustainability Plan, the statement said.
Akande also quoted Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-rufai, who is also the Chairman of the NGF adhoc committee on the collaborative implementation of the NESP, to have commended the Osinbajo-led ESC for a job well-done and noted that State governors were committed to the successful implementation of the plan.
Specifically, according to Akande, El-rufai said: “In agriculture, each state is to make available 20 hectares of land for cultivation and with the contribution of lands from States, he added that governors will appreciate land clearance as an incentive.
“In Mass housing, NEC welcomes the plan to build 300,000 housing units across the country with an average of ten thousand homes per State,” El-rufai noted while also calling for a nationwide mortgage system to support the plan.
Speaking on the recommendations of the interim report of the NEC ad hoc committee interfacing with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to ease the lockdown, the Committee Chairman and Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa said “the committee recommended that the Honorable Minister of Health should ensure the continuous provision of all essential health services in-order to ensure that people do not die from other diseases needlessly,” the statement noted.
It quoted Okowa as saying that, “the Presidential Task Force (PTF) should provide the operating guidelines to the States to enable them domesticate the same given their peculiarities, norms and traditions, especially in opening of markets, religious places and schools etc.
Okowa noted that the major recommendation arising from the meeting is the proposed health workers allowance being planned by the Federal Ministry of Health. The ‘Hazard’ allowance should not be imposed on States but presented with general guidance to enable each State negotiate with its health workers based on its ability to pay, the statement said.
Okowa was said to have added that the Committee’s interim report presented to NEC today recommends “that there should be rapid testing, tracing, isolation and treatment, and the NCDC and PTF should provide each State with laboratory testing facilities and ensure effective sample collection”.