The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved financing packages totalling about $2.96 billion, €200 million and ₦215 billion to accelerate investments in transportation, agriculture, power, infrastructure and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), while also reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring fairness in the pricing of petroleum products.
The approvals were granted at the Council meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Monday.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the council considered 14 memoranda from the Ministry of Finance and grouped the approvals into five strategic areas aimed at lowering transportation costs, boosting food production, expanding energy access, strengthening infrastructure and improving access to finance for businesses.
He said the Council approved ₦215 billion to complete outstanding investments under the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative, covering the procurement of CNG buses, electric vehicles, CNG-powered tricycles and the establishment of vehicle conversion centres across the country.
According to the minister, the approvals would enable the government to complete the remaining components of the programme, which is designed to reduce transportation costs for Nigerians and provide affordable alternatives to petrol-powered vehicles.
FEC also approved financing arrangements worth $900 million for agricultural development projects, including Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), rural technical and vocational training as well as agricultural value-chain initiatives aimed at improving food production and rural livelihoods.
In the power sector, the Council approved a $160 million financing facility for rural solar energy projects in Niger State, comprising $150 million from the Islamic Development Bank and $10 million counterpart funding from the Niger State Government.
Oyedele said the initiative would expand access to clean energy and improve electricity supply in underserved communities.
The Council further approved a $1.2 billion financing facility for Section Two of the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway, which traverses 11 states and is expected to improve connectivity, facilitate trade and support economic development across the country.
To boost financing for small businesses, FEC also approved €200 million and an additional $500 million for the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to expand affordable credit to micro, small and medium enterprises.
The minister said the administration recognises the critical role of MSMEs in job creation, economic growth and poverty reduction, stressing that improving their access to affordable finance remains a key government priority.
Responding to questions on the pricing of petroleum products, Oyedele said the Federal Government was engaging petroleum marketers and industry regulators to ensure that fuel prices reflect prevailing market realities and that consumers are not subjected to unfair pricing practices.
He explained that marketers often raise pump prices immediately when international crude oil prices increase, citing replacement costs, but are generally slower to reduce prices when crude prices decline because they seek to exhaust existing inventories purchased at higher costs.
According to him, the government is working with operators to strike a balance between protecting consumers and ensuring that businesses remain commercially viable.
He disclosed that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) were already addressing the issue within the framework of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Oyedele also defended the Tinubu administration’s interventions in the downstream petroleum sector, saying they had substantially moderated the impact of global energy price increases on Nigerians.
He noted that the Federal Government had suspended the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT), excise duty and the surcharge on petroleum products, adding that neighbouring countries still impose such taxes, making fuel prices between 20 and 50 per cent higher than those obtainable in Nigeria.
The minister urged transport operators benefiting from government investments under the CNG programme, including subsidised vehicle conversion kits and other incentives, to transfer the resulting savings to commuters instead of charging the same fares as operators using petrol-powered vehicles.
He stressed that the government had made significant investments to make transportation more affordable and called on all stakeholders to play their part in ensuring that Nigerians fully benefit from the initiative.
