Council orders accelerated reforms, immunisation funding
Nigeria’s journey to a $1 trillion economy by 2030 now has a fresh roadmap as the National Economic Council (NEC), yesterday, approved the Renewed Hope Development Plan (2026-2030), even as the Federation’s savings buffers continue to thin alarmingly.
At the Council’s 151st meeting, chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, revealed that the Excess Crude Account had dropped to $535,823.39.
According to him, the Stabilisation Account holds N78.45 billion, while the Natural Resources Account stands at N106.72 billion. Despite the lean balances, NEC proceeded to approve the new five-year strategy, which will succeed the outgoing National Development Plan (2021-2025). Shettima described the transition as “no ordinary handover” but a critical bridge between lessons learnt and ambitions pursued.
“The Renewed Hope Plan will consolidate ongoing reforms, deepen policy continuity, and align our medium-term strategies with the long-term horizon of Nigeria Agenda 2050. It’s a practical roadmap towards a $1 trillion economy by 2030,” the Vice President said.
He emphasised that the framework would be participatory, involving all tiers of government, the private sector, labour, civil society, youth, and traditional institutions.
In a bid to strengthen food security, Shettima announced that NASENI had scaled up local production of solar-powered irrigation pumps to reduce energy costs for farmers and expand dry-season cultivation.
On public health, the Council directed the Accountant General to fast-track the release of funds for the next national polio immunisation campaign, following reports of a sharp, but incomplete decline in cases.
The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, who chairs the NEC’s polio eradication committee, disclosed that cases of circulating poliovirus type 2 (cVPV2) dropped by 46 per cent in 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, with significant gains in Kano and Katsina. Sokoto, however, remains a hotspot.
The NEC resolved to integrate technology into routine immunisation, strengthen surveillance, and ensure robust state participation in upcoming campaigns, while the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, explained that the Renewed Hope Plan was the second in a series of six five-year frameworks under the Nigeria Agenda 2050 perspective plan.
He said the framework would drive job creation, infrastructure expansion, human capital development, food security, and social protection, consolidate the reform momentum while tackling new socioeconomic challenges.
Three governance structures, a National Steering Committee, Central Working Group, and Technical Working Groups, will midwife the plan, co-chaired by public and private sector leaders, with governors representing all six geopolitical zones.
