Aso Villa Reads for 05/07/2021
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Federal Government has so far disbursed N9.5 billion as conditional grants to 142,000 poor and vulnerable households in Katsina state. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, disclosed this. Umar-Farouk said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has given approval for the expansion of the Social Register to accommodate more poor and vulnerable Nigerians in the conditional cash transfer scheme.[Punch]
The federal government through the ministry of finance is currently in discussion with the insurance industry to insure assets of its ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) across the country. Federal government, before now, had only insured a small fraction of its assets, but with the current commitment, the government would be leading by example to ensure that other economic players imbibe insurance culture Speaking after the insurers’. At the committee meeting held this weekend, a member of the publicity sub-committee, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, confirmed that there is an ongoing engagement between government and the insurance industry on the issue. Nwachukwu, who is also the vice chairperson of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), said that in the coming weeks, insurance stakeholders will meet with representatives of the ministry of finance to discuss the right discount and premium to charge, adding that operators are very excited about the plan. [Leadership]
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has remitted N150 billion revenue from the spectrum fees to the federal government’s consolidated revenue fund (CRF) this year. The telecom’s regulatory agency, exceeded its N36 billion projected revenue from spectrum licence fees for 2021, having recorded over N150 billion from this revenue source within the five months of the year. The figure represents over 400 per cent increase in revenue budget performance in respect of spectrum fees generated by the commission between January 1 and May 31, 2021, reflecting significant contribution to the revenue drive of the federal government.[Leadership]
President Muhammadu Buhari will inaugurate the construction of Kano -Kaduna rail project in the next weeks, the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi disclosed on Friday in Abuja. The minister, who was speaking at the weekly Presidential Media briefing, said already all contracts for the projects had been awarded while the loan for the project was not forthcoming from China as earlier planned.[Business Day]
Nigeria and Ghana are the first African countries to benefit from the yearly $100 million Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) designed to propel sustainable development in African countries. The ASR Africa Initiative, which is the brainchild of Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Group was recently set up with an annual set aside of $100million to be used to improve health, education and social development in the African continent.[Business Day]
National Pension Commission, PenCom, Wednesday, announced President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval for the payment of outstanding pension liabilities of the Federal Government retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme, especially retirees of Treasury-funded Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. In a statement, the management of PenCom said: “The President has approved payment of outstanding accrued pension rights for verified and enrolled retirees of treasury-funded MDAs that retired but are yet to be paid their retirement benefits. [Vanguard]
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