Aso Villa Reads for 12/08/2020

Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria

The Nigerian Air Force is set to deploy air assets as well as Regiment and Special Forces personnel to Gombe State to beef up existing security arrangements in the fight against insurgency and other related crimes in the zone. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, disclosed this while hosting Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya, at the NAF, Headquarters, Abuja. According to a statement on Tuesday by the NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, titled ‘Counterinsurgency: NAF set to deploy air assets, special forces in Gombe State,’ the CAS noted that the NAF, in conjunction with other security agencies, would continue to work tirelessly to secure the North-East and defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity. He appreciated the gesture of the Gombe State Government in providing 230 hectares of land to the NAF for the establishment of a Forward Operating Base which, he said, clearly showed the governor’s commitment towards ensuring the security of the state and the North-East zone. The statement read, “The CAS remarked that the NAF had flown an unprecedented 26,200 operational hours in the counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, all to ensure the protection of the people and enable them pursue their legitimate aspirations without fear.” Speaking further, the CAS noted that since 2015, the NAF had significantly increased its presence in the North-East to meet national security imperatives. “We now have the headquarters of the Special Operations Command as well as a Reference Hospital and the 201 Composite Group located in Bauchi. We will also soon flag-off the construction of an aircraft hangar in Bauchi to enhance aircraft maintenance activities within the North-East Theatre,” he disclosed. The Air Marshal also informed the governor that a NAF team would return to Gombe in the next few days to commence work on the construction of the necessary preliminary infrastructure for the take-off of the FOB. Punch reported.

The Debt Management Office has said the Federal Government will auction N150bn worth of bonds by subscription on August 19, Punch reports. A circular by the DMO on Tuesday showed the breakdown of the figure to include a N25bn 10-year reopening bond that would mature in January 2026 and be offered at 12.5 per cent; and a N40bn 15-year reopening bond that would mature in March 2035 and be offered at 12.5 per cent. It also showed a N45bn 25-year reopening bond that would mature in July 2045 and be offered at 9.8 per cent; and the longest tenor of a N40bn 30-year reopening bond to be offered at 12.98. According to the DMO, the settlement date for the bonds is August 21, 2020. The Federal Government’s bonds worth N130bn, which were auctioned in July, were oversubscribed by N340.13bn. The total subscription received for the July bonds was N470.13bn, comprising N71.97bn for the 12.5 per cent FGN January 2026 bonds; N60.32bn for the 12.5 per cent FGN March 2035 bonds; N130.27bn for the 9.8 per cent FGN July 2045 bonds; and N207.57bn for the 12.98 per cent FGN March 2050 bonds. The 12.5 per cent FGN January bond was offered for N25bn, while the other three bonds were offered for N35bn each. The auction results said that 36, 58, 70 and 29 were successful bids for the total bids for each bonds auction of 97, 87, 131 and 189 bids. According to the DMO, successful bids for the 12.5 per cent FGN January 2026, 12.5 per cent FGN March 2035, 9.80 per cent FGN July 2045 and 12.98 per cent FGN March 2050 were allotted at the marginal rates of six per cent, 9.5 per cent, 9.8 per cent and 9.95 per cent respectively.

According to Punch, many of the pilots who were recently sacked by Air Peace will be recalled to their jobs following the intervention of the Federal Government. It was gathered on Tuesday that this was the outcome of an intervention meeting called by the Minister of Aviation Senator, Hadi Sirika, between the airline’s management and the leadership of the National Association of Airline Pilots and Engineers. “The minister appealed to him to recall the maximum number of the sacked pilots that the airline can comfortably accommodate in the prevailing circumstances to which the airline operator agreed,” the statement added. Sirika called on all stakeholders in the aviation industry to put all hands on deck in ensuring a rapid recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 222 ex-workers of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc were paid N141.38m in four batches between June 19 and July 28, the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate has said. PTAD said this in response to the aggrieved ex-workers of NAHCO who alleged irregularities in the payment of their one-off severance package by the directorate. According to a statement sent to Punch correspondent by Head, Corporate Communications, PTAD, Mr Olugbenga Ajayi, a total of 1,130 NAHCO ex-workers were verified during a nationwide verification exercise carried out for all Parastatals Pension Department pensioners which was concluded in November 2019. Out of this figure, 786 ex-workers were classified as qualified and a total of 222 ex-workers were indicated as paid. For the remaining 564 ex-workers, their files were to be reviewed and computed. PTAD said no amount was approved for the ex-workers. The directorate said the payments made to the ex-workers were funded from the directorate’s savings from pension releases for the payment of monthly pension to pensioners on its payroll.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it has now opened its electronic auction portal for interested persons to log in and bid for items of their choice. The electronic auction portal was reopened after the service re-engineered the auction process. A statement signed by Joseph Attah, Public Relations Officer of Customs, said that interested bidders must have valid Tax Identification Number (TIN) to be able to participate on the link. “As usual, the bidding period for every week is 48 hours, beginning from Monday 12noon to Wednesday 12noon. Please note that the process is fully automated and requires no physical intervention of any kind to win,” Attah said. He however wished interested bidders good luck as they choose and make their bid alongside other interested Nigerians. Business Day reports.

President Muhammadu Buhari and State Governors on Tuesday ended their meeting on the state of the nation’s security with call for a joint strategy to bring various conflicts to an end within time limits. They also called on field commanders to take measures to protect civilian communities as a confidence-building mechanism between the military and those communities. Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja said Buhari and governors made their feelings known at the end of the virtual meeting coordinated from the State House, Abuja. he president and the governors believed that ”when the trust that has been lost between both parties is re-established, there would be improved cooperation in intelligence-gathering and sharing.” The presidential aide revealed that the meeting also agreed that poverty and youth unemployment were at the root of the nationwide security challenges, and needed to be addressed with greater vigour by all tiers of government. Shehu said the meeting also focused on the country’s security policies and approaches in tackling the internal security challenges with a charge that intelligence-gathering and sharing must be optimised. Vanguard reported.

According to This Day, the federal government has organised the maiden edition of the Federal Civil Service Innovation Competition 2020. The initiative was to promote a culture of technological innovation in the public service. The N3 million prize money of the competition, which attracted 168 entries in the first round of pitching from 109 civil servants was won by the staff members of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, which submitted innovation on how to curb leakages of official data in the work spaces. The Head of Service (HoS), Dr. Folasade Yemi -Esan, expressed optimism, noting the federal government has commenced aggressive deployment of technological innovations for the transformation of the public service sector. She touted the Federal Civil Service Innovation Challenge as a turning point signaling a major breakthrough in the nation’s collective movement towards an innovative public service that provides quality service. She added that arrangements had been finalised towards the establishment of a service innovation department required for improved governance in the country in the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. Also speaking, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola lauded the decision of the HoS to prioritise technological innovations in the public service.

The federal government will not abandon its plan to concession up to 178 identified flare gas fields through its Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Program (NGFCP) which it initiated in 2018. The Technical Adviser (TA) on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, Justice Derefaka, disclosed this during a chat with This Day. Derefaka, who is also the Program Manager for the NGFCP, said the country has been working on the modalities so far, adding that the process of concluding the first phase of the NGFCP was ongoing with the bid rounds. According to the government, the NGFCP was designed as its strategy to eliminate gas flares from oil fields in the country. It noted that with potentially enormous multiplier and development outcomes for Nigeria, the NGFCP will support technically and commercially sustainable gas utilisation projects developed by competent third-party investors. Through the program, the government said it would offer flare gas for sale to qualified bidders through a transparent and competitive bidding process.