Aso Villa Reads for 07/02/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday that the federal government was committed to providing more funding and enhanced equipment for the Armed Forces and other security agencies to enable them tame the insecurity in the country. This is coming as the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said government had so far procured 22 aircraft while 17 more were expected this year. Speaking at the induction ceremony of three helicopter gunships in Abuja, the president said professionalism, capacity building and equipping of the armed forces were a major policy thrust of his administration. Buhari said government was determined to re-professionalise and re-equip the armed forces and security agencies to discharge their duties. Buhari stated: “I have no doubt that the deployment of these Agusta 109P gunships and the M-17IE helicopter would add impetus to the combat efficiency of the Air Force in combating our contemporary security challenges. “We are committed to taking the right steps in achieving the desired results. The acquisition of these aircraft amongst other military equipment despite our budgetary constraints is an expression of our commitment.” This Day reported.
The Nigerian Air Force, Director, Public Relations and information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said NAF had destroyed compounds housing Islamic State of West Africa Province terrorists in Kaza, Ngala Local Government, Borno. Daramola said in a statement on Friday in Abuja, that the Air Force achieved this through the Air Task Force of Operation LAFIYA DOLE. He said the airstrike was executed on February 5 following intelligence reports that some ISWAP members who relocated from nearby Tongule have settled in the area. According to him, the reports show that some ISWAP elements have set up camps in a cluster of compounds in Kaza, along with their logistics suppliers. “The identified location within the settlement was attacked by the ATF’s fighter jets after confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions, showed a significant presence of terrorists. “This resulted in the destruction of the structures and the neutralisation of some of the ISWAP fighters,” he said. Punch reported.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received another batch of 161 stranded Nigerians from Mtiga in Libya. The acting Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office, NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, received the returnees on Thursday night in Lagos. According to him, the returnees were brought via Al Buraq Air Boeing 737 aircraft with flight number UZ 189 and registration number 5A-DMG. He said that the Nigerians were brought by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and European Union on the platform of the Assisted Voluntary Returnees (AVR) Programme. Farinloye also said that the returnees comprised of 48 female adults, four female children, five female infants as well as 102 adult males, one male child and one infant male. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other agencies that received the returnees included the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). Farinloye said: “This batch brought the total number of voluntary returnees from Libya to 14,045, which is made up of 8,200 males and 5,845 females.” Vanguard reports.
The Presidential Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on Thursday reeled out strategies to tackle difficult economic challenges ahead of implementation of the 2020 budget. The advisory council headed by Doyin Salami, a former member of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee, outlined a number of challenges facing the economy and made recommendations on how to address the challenges. As reported by Business Day, the President assured that his administration would be bound by the council’s advice on economy-related matters and directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to immediately address observed lapses in coordination between ministries and agencies of government.
President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja Friday to attend the Thirty-third (33rd) Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. President Buhari will join leaders from the 55-member countries of the African Union to participate in the Summit with the theme, “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development.” A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the President will also attend the 29th Forum of Heads of State and Government of Participating States of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the 27th Session of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (AUDA-NEPAD). The meetings will precede the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly. President Buhari is also expected to participate at the High Level meeting of the Peace and Security Council on the situation in the Sahel and Libya, and High Level Ad-Hoc Committee on South Sudan, in his capacity as a member of the AU Peace Committee. Business Day reports.
The Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, thursday said the federal government is ready to undertake a third tranche of the green bond programme of up to N25 billion to fund environmental projects. The proceeds of green bonds are exclusively applied to finance or re-finance eligible green projects that align with the four core components of the Green Bond Principles (GBP) including : renewable energy, afforestation, and transportation. The government had already raised N10.69 billion in 2017 and N15 billion in 2019 in two tranches. Green Bonds are any type of bond instrument where the proceeds are exclusively applied to finance or re-finance, in part or in full, new and/or existing eligible green projects that align with the four core components of the Green Bond Principles (GBP). Speaking at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos, Abubakar said: “The first tranche of the green bond was about N10 billion, the second N15 billion and the third, we are looking at N25 billion. We are moving up in the launch “We want to embark on more projects that are climate sensitive that will help in eliminating climate problems.” As reported by This Day, he stated that the proceed of the green bond will be used to finance power, aforestation, deforestation water, energy, agriculture among other projects among others.
