By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for the design of a responsive, scalable, and data-driven social protection policy to confront multidimensional poverty in Nigeria, framing the challenge in vivid and deeply human terms.
The Vice President made the call in his opening remarks at the 159th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), held virtually on Monday, 3 August, 2026 where the Council went on to approve the refinancing of the $3.3 billion Project Gazelle Pre-Export Finance Facility through a new $4.5 billion facility named Project Gazelle 2, following a presentation by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.
Speaking on the state of governance and its impact on ordinary citizens, Shettima argued that government policies are ultimately judged not by pronouncements but by their tangible effects on everyday life.
He said, “Government policies are often heard before they are seen. They speak through the price of food, the condition of hospitals, the records in schools, the strain on families, the confidence of those who invest their labour in the nation’s future, and, very importantly, the ambitions of state governments.”
The Vice President urged Council members to ensure that every decision reached at NEC left ordinary Nigerians with confidence that their government was attentive and responsive to their daily struggles.
“Every decision we make must assure the citizens that their government is paying attention to the pulse of the nation and is resolved to respond with competence, compassion and purpose,” he said.
Following Shettima’s remarks, the Council proceeded to approve the refinancing arrangement, allowing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to refinance the outstanding balance of approximately $1.5 billion under the original 2023 facility while unlocking an additional $3 billion in liquidity to strengthen Nigeria’s external reserves and support ongoing fiscal and infrastructure priorities.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, disclosed details of the approval in a statement he signed on Monday titled, “NEC Approves Refinancing of $3.3 billion Project Gazelle to Optimise Cost, Unlock Additional Liquidity.”
According to Nkwocha, the Council observed the significance of unlocking additional liquidity for the federation and pledged its support for the actualisation of the initiative.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Oyedele explained that the new arrangement had been structured on considerably more favourable terms than the original facility, including a substantial reduction in the volume of crude oil pledged to secure the loan.
“The refinancing has been structured on more favourable terms than the original facility, including a reduction in the volume of pledged crude oil from 90,000 barrels of oil per day to approximately 78,750 barrels of oil per day, a 12.5 per cent reduction,” he said.
Oyedele explained that the reduction in pledged volume translated directly into more crude available for the federation to sell and retain revenue from outside the terms of the facility.
“Under the new arrangement, an additional 11,250 barrels of oil per day for the federation will be released, while there will be a reduction in the pledged crude volumes by NNPC Limited,” he said.
The Minister described the refinancing as a dual achievement, improving liquidity access on better terms while simultaneously strengthening the country’s overall financing structure.
“While accessing additional liquidity on improved terms, the arrangement is freeing up resources for strategic national priorities while strengthening the country’s financing structures,” he said.
Project Gazelle was originally structured in 2023 as a pre-export finance facility secured against future crude oil sales, designed to provide Nigeria with dollar liquidity to defend the naira and support foreign exchange market stability amid the sharp currency volatility that followed the administration’s unification of exchange-rate windows.
The refinancing under Project Gazelle 2 extends and restructures that facility on improved terms, reflecting both the larger size of the new facility and NNPC Limited’s improved negotiating position following three years of oil sector reforms aimed at attracting fresh investment from international oil companies and boosting domestic production capacity.
