From Juliana Taiwo Obalonye and Fred Itua, Abuja

Two members of the Federal Executive Council yesterday failed to agree on the state of the Nigerian economy.  While the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, admitted that the nation’s economy had entered into full recession,  the Budget and National Planning Minister, Udo Udoma, said it was still early to conclude.
Udoma, who was asked  to confirm reports on the negative status of the economy,  said though the first quarter had experienced negative growth, it is only if the  second quarter report, which ended in June, is  also negative that Nigeria’s  economy could be said to be technically in recession.
However, Adeosun, who briefed the Senate, said there was no need to panic, saying the recession would not be long, as government was taking serious measures to reverse the negative economic trend in the country.
In response to a question, Adeosun said: “We are not the only country in recession. Many countries are doing far worse than we. But for Nigeria, what Nigerians want to know is ‘how’s that going to affect me’ and I want to assure everybody that what we are doing is going to work and it’s going to turn this economy around.”
She insisted that despite the economic troubles, the nation’s economy remained the biggest in Africa.‎ Adeosun also disclosed that N247.9 billion had been released to fund key infrastructural projects across the country.
Of this amount, Adeosun stated that N107 billion was for projects in the works and housing sector, while the agriculture sector got N29.1 billion so far. She said another N60 billion would be released in the next few weeks.
But when asked  to confirm reports on the negative status of the economy, Udoma explained that since the first quarter had already experienced negative growth, should the expected  second quarter report, which ended in June, also be in the negative, Nigeria’s  economy could be said to be technically in recession.
Udoma, who briefed newsmen alongside Taraba and Niger states governors,  blamed the bad economic situation on the effect of low oil production occasioned by the activities of militants in the Niger Delta, which he said was unexpected.
He noted that while the fall in oil price was expected, the drop in oil production was totally unexpected, as activities of the militants  have also had a devastating impact on power supply in the country.
The minister, however, assured that things were looking up, as there were reasons to believe that the economy would finish marginally better at the end of the year before assuming much better growth next year.
Udoma noted that the current challenges presented a good opportunity for the nation to move away from a single product economy, noting that government was now focusing on the area of non-oil.
According to him, the responsibility to shift the country away from a single economy is that of the private sector with the government providing the federal enabling environment.
Udoma  said revenue accruing to government had improved, especially from the activities of tax collection by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
On fears that government might not be able to pay salaries, he assured that could never be the case.
“We have paid all salaries, Federal Government has always been paying its salaries and there is no risk whatsoever that there is going to be a situation where Federal Government will not pay salaries.  Let me also say that we are about to have FAAC this month; there is an actually an increase in the amount that is going to be available in FAAC. I will let the Minister of Finance talk about the exact amount.