Aso Villa Reads for 19/11/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has assured government retirees that their money was safely kept in the Central Bank of Nigeria coffers under the Treasury Single Account policy. As reported by Sun News, the Executive Secretary of PTAD, Dr. Chioma N. Ejikeme gave the assurance in Abuja on Monday at the maitama verification centre for pensioners, even as she allayed the fears of the anxious retirees who claimed to have learnt that government was planning to borrow their pension funds for other ventures. She said: “Before now, government money was kept in commercial banks like Union, UBA etc which you could access. Now, such money is in CBN vault under the TSA arrangement. We use a code to access each of you and ensure CBN credits you. We don’t physically see your money but electronically. No one has access to your money. Disabuse your mind from that rumour”, she said. According to Ejikeme, the Directorate has since secured federal government’s approval to pay the outstanding 24 months of the 33% pension arrears, assuring them that the money will hit their accounts once there was cash backing. She explained: “We’ve the approval to pay the 33% arrears.”
In its efforts to boost the immunity of children against measles and meningitis in Nigeria, the federal government has announced it plans to vaccinate about 28million children against Measles and Meningitis. In a statement made available to journalists over the weekend, children in the 19 Northern states are to be vaccinated in what the statement described as a “largescale campaign”. The campaign according to the statement is implemented by the Government of Nigeria in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and support from Gavi. The statement listed the states to include: Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Taraba, Niger, Adamawa, Kaduna and Sokoto. Others are Gombe Jigawa, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory. Speaking on preparations for the campaign, the Director of Disease Control and Immunization, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr Joseph Oteri, lamented that Nigeria has experienced repeated outbreaks of measles in recent years due to low routine immunization coverage. He reaffirmed government commitment to ensure that every eligible child is reached with the lifesaving vaccines. Daily Times reports.
Nigeria’s rice farmers and millers who struggled in the past to sell their products are now smiling to the bank as Nigerians are forced to shift preference to local rice varieties, according to Business Day investigation. The rising demand means the farmers and millers are now having to ramp up production to meet the ever-increasing demand for rice, a key staple in Nigerians’ diet. The price of rice rose suddenly following the closure of the land borders by the Federal Government but it may have peaked, forced down in the last 10 days by an unusually heavy harvest by rice farmers across the country. It is pushing millers with an estimated capacity of near 5 million tons annually to expand operations. “A whole lot of farmers are increasing their production areas because there is a huge market for paddy since the border closure,” Aminu Goronyo, National President, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, told Business day in a telephone response to questions. “This is because millers are patronizing rice farmers now and off-taking all that the farmers produce immediately.” Goronyo said that before the border closure, farmers were holding over 20,000 tons of paddy which lay fallow because millers were not buying from them.
According to Vanguard, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, transmitted a letter to the Senate, seeking consideration and passage of six Aviation Bills. The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan read the letter during plenary. The President, in the letter, said: “Dear Distinguished Senate President; Transmission of Six Aviation Sector Bills to the National Assembly for consideration and passage into law. “Pursuant to Section 58 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, I formally request that the following six bills be considered for passage by the Senate.” The bills include Civil Aviation Bill 2019, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria Bill 2019, Nigerian College of Air space Management Agency Establishment Bill 2019. Others are Nigerian College of Aviation Technology Establishment Bill 2019, Nigerian Meteorological Agency Establishment Bill 2019 and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau Establishment Bill 2019.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday presented Integrity awards to two public servants, ACG Bashir Abubakar and Mrs Josephine Ugwu of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, for exhibiting Integrity in the performance of their official duties. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the president presented the awards to the recipients at the opening of two-day National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public Sector held at the State House old Banquet Hall, Abuja. The event is being organized by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in collaboration with Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC). The Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Abubakar rejected 412,000 dollars (N150 million) bribe offered to him by drug traffickers to import 40 containers laden with Tramadol, a controlled and highly addictive drug. Ugwu, a former cleaner at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos had on different occasions returned millions of naira found in the course of her duty, including the sum of 12million dollars forgotten in the toilet by an airport user. Herald reports.
