The approval was granted during Thursday’s NEC meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, Cross River State Governor Bassey Otu disclosed that the initial proposal for the fund exceeded ₦166 billion. However, the Council approved ₦83.2 billion for immediate intervention.
The fund is expected to finance preventive measures such as early warning systems, emergency response planning, and other flood-control initiatives intended to reduce the impact of seasonal flooding on lives and property.
Council members also stressed the significance of the Anticipatory Action Trust Fund in responding to disasters and emergencies nationwide, noting that disaster management should be driven by preparedness rather than reactive measures after crises occur.
During the meeting, Vice President Shettima emphasized that the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration must begin to translate into tangible benefits for citizens across the country.
According to him, the success of government policies should be measured by their impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians, particularly farmers, manufacturers, vulnerable groups, unemployed youths, and future generations.
He stated, “When this Council last met, I called our economy a workshop. A place of measurement and correction. A place where plans are turned into systems, and systems into institutions, before any of it becomes prosperity.
“A workshop is judged by one thing. Not by the plans pinned to its walls, but by what comes off the bench. We return to that bench today. Not to admire the image, but to ask the question that honours it. Is the work taking shape?”
In a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, the vice president said Nigeria was progressing from economic stabilisation toward increased production and implementation-driven growth.
“The assignment has not changed. We remain a federation moving from stabilisation to production, from aspiration to implementation, from isolated interventions to coordinated national growth. What has changed, I hope, is our proximity to delivery,” Shettima said.
“A federation does not earn its prosperity by leaving its most vulnerable behind and hoping they catch up. The dignity of the citizen with the least is the floor beneath which we have resolved that no Nigerian shall fall.”
Shettima further described the Council’s social protection agenda as an opportunity to institutionalise support systems that safeguard citizens and strengthen human capital development.
On economic diversification and trade, he reiterated the need for Nigeria to move beyond exporting raw materials and focus on value addition through local production.
“We cannot continue to export raw materials and import finished products,” he said.
The vice president explained that sustainable economic growth depends on building a complete value chain that connects agricultural production to manufacturing, quality standards, port operations, and international markets.
He also assured that the Council would address obstacles affecting agricultural exports, particularly challenges linked to port operations and compliance with international trade standards.
According to him, improving export procedures and meeting global standards are essential to boosting farmers’ earnings, supporting manufacturers, and expanding Nigeria’s access to international markets.
“A nation that cannot move its goods has imprisoned its own farmers. Meeting international standards is not submission to foreign demand. It is the price of the markets that will reward our labour,” Shettima added.