Aso Villa Reads for 15/11/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
According to PUNCH, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday announced that it had concluded arrangements with the United States Trade and Development Agency to sign a $1.16m grant as part funding for the NNPC-Abuja Independent Power Project. It said the plant was modelled to generate 1,350 megawatts of electricity to alleviate the power challenge across the country. This was disclosed at a business meeting between the management of the NNPC and the USTDA at the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja, where both parties agreed to close out the deal on December 1, 2019. The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, said the plan by the corporation to build the 1,350MW power plant in Abuja was part of the national strategy to monetise the abundant natural gas resources across the country. Kyari said the USDTA grant was to complement the ongoing feed project in order to make the Abuja IPP initiative more bankable for strategic investors’ participation. He said, “As a state-owned oil company and enabler organisation, we know that our investment in the Abuja 1,350MW IPP will increase energy supply level with great impact on the nation’s economy. “Therefore, the USTDA grant is timely to make it a bankable project that would attract foreign direct investment into the country.”
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Patanmi, has directed mobile network providers to put an end to automatic voicemail services. The minister, in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Mrs Uwa Suleiman, said complaints of subscribers indicated that operators were exploiting them with automatic voicemail service. According to him, subscribers should be given the option of subscribing to the service and not by default. “Our attention has been drawn to the latest trend of financial exploitation by mobile network operators in the country, through the automatic activation of the voicemail service on their platforms. Based on recent reports reaching the office, the practice has gained momentum in recent times,” Patanmi said. “The voicemail service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default.” The minister expressed worry that telecom subscribers were made to incur financial charges for a service they were compelled to use. He directed the Nigerian Communications Commission to ensure that operators gave subscribers an option for accessing the service via an activation code. Punch reports.
As reported by BUSINESS DAY, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has commenced the trial run of the newly installed Category III Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Runway 18 Right, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. The exercise which started on Monday indicated that the equipment was fully operational on a test basis , even as all the ILS components — Localizer, Glide Slope and Distance Measuring Equipment are propagating signals optimally. Speaking at the commencement of the test run, Fola Akinkuotu, Managing Director of NAMA, said the alignment of the facility had already been done by the engineers. This, according to him, was to ensure that the equipment aligned with the centre line of the runway and also that it aligned with the descent path that will be comfortable to arrive at the threshold at a good landing height to make a normal landing. In a couple of weeks, we will bring a calibration aircraft to fly in and certify that the equipment is good to goHe said according to the timelines, CAT III ILS would be available at both Lagos and Abuja airports by the third week of December 2019. Explaining the rationale for deploying the facility, Akinkuotu said the agency was responding to the demands and clamour by airlines for better navigational facilities in Nigeria. The CAT II ILSs we have right now is 800 meters visibility. With the CAT III system you will be able to come down lower and when you are closer to the runway you will be able to see it better. A CAT III operation is a precision approach at lower than CAT II minima. A category III A approach is a precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height or a decision height lower than 100ft (30m) and a runway visual range not less than 700ft (200m).”
The Central Bank of Nigeria has endorsed the Association of Corporate Treasurers of Nigeria to boost corporate treasury function in the country. The Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, CBN, Joseph Nnanna, made this known to the members of the ACTN governing council during their courtesy visit to him in Abuja last week, a statement said on Thursday. Nnanna, while urging the ACTN to be research oriented, said the association should interface with the CBN in the partnership to boost corporate treasury through its financial markets department. The Chairman, ACTN governing council, Zeal Akaraiwe, noted that the association could play a vital role in partnering the CBN in the area of providing feedback on policy issues. He reiterated the value the ACTN could add to the process and quality of policies if CBN could depend on it for certain statistics they would require for more informed policies. Nnanna said the CBN was trying to de-risk the real sector and expressed willingness to partner with the ACTN in that regard to move the economy forward. Punch reports.
Nigerian Government says a 900,000 dollar grant has been approved by the South Korean government for the preparation for the state urban policy. Alhaji Ahmed Matane, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), disclosed this on Monday in Minna at a press conference to commence the preparation for the Niger State Urban Policy. He said that Gov. Abubakar Bello attended the second international conference on the National Urban Policy in Paris, France, based on the invitation from the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Matane explained that the governor during the conference solicited the assistance of the UN-Habitat and other partners to assist the state to prepare for urban development policy. The policy seek to develop the human settlement sector in a holistic, comprehensive and integrated manner through the formation of the state urban development policy. It would also ensure that resources of the state especially land for urban development was used efficiently and effectively for the present and future generations without unnecessarily depleting good agriculture land. Matane said the governor solicited the support of UN-Habitat to help prepare pilot integrated development plan for Minna and Suleja and to develop a smart city near Suleja. As reported by The Nation, he disclosed that the efforts of the governor attracted the grant from the South Korean government for the project.”
NATION reports that the federal government is set to build a new Sea Port, estimated to cost $800 million in Pessu area of Warri in Delta state. Minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi disclosed this Thursday, at the Petroleum Training Institute Conference Centre, in Uvwie council area of Delta state. Amaechi who was in company of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN) and Director-General, National Directorate of Employment, Dr. Nasiru Ladan Argungu tasked youths of the area to support the forthcoming project. The trio were in the state to present starter packs, micro enterprise enhancement loans and resettlement packages to 1,700 women and youths under the National Directorate of Employment empowerment programme. While urging youths to ensure the project goes on smoothly when it takes off Amaechi revealed further that a similar Sea Port will be built in Bonny, Bonny local government area of Rivers state. “We are building a brand new Sea Port in Pessu. It will cost 800 million dollars. When you stop them from working you are losing such a huge investment where the entire community can be contractors, some can supply sand. “There is also the Bonny sea Port that is coming. The best thing to do is allow the development. Imagine the companies that have left Warri, let the Sea Port project go on smoothly,” the minister appealed.”
According to DAILY TIMES, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja approved the draft bill for domestication of the International Convention against doping in sports. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture briefed State House correspondents on behalf of the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare after the FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Mohammed said that the sports minister presented a memo for the approval of the draft bill for domestication of the international convention against doping in sports, 2005. The information minister said that Nigeria had been a signatory to the convention but it needed to domesticate the law so that it would be applicable also in Nigeria. “We joined 188 other countries in the world that have ratified the convention. “We have now made it a law by domesticating the convention; the council approved for the draft bill to be sent to National Assembly.”
As part of the capital raising for the 2019 Budget, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is offering five, 10 and 30 year bonds at 12.8 percent, 14.6 percent and 14.8 percent interest rates respectively. This was contained in a document published on the Debt Management Office (DMO) website on Wednesday. The document showed the breakdown of the N150 billion bond to include a N50bn five-year reopening bond that would mature in April 2023, a N50bn 10-year reopening bond that would mature in April 2029 and N50bn 30-year bond expected to mature in April 2049. The document also showed that the auction date is November 20, 2019 and the settlement date is November 22, 2019. Federal Government also offered long term bonds of five-year, 10-year and 30-year tenors with a total value of N145bn, for subscription to the investors at its September, August and July FGN bond auction. The DMO in a statement noted that a total of 298 competitive bids were received in the month of July from investors for the three instruments, with a total value of N301.02bn. As reported by Daily Trust, the statement also noted that the total subscription level was 207.6 per cent.
