Aso Villa Reads for 25/06/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
Ghana has promised to rebuild the demolished building in the Nigeria High Commission in Accra. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, announced this on Thursday. Onyeama expressed satisfaction with the steps taken by Ghana on the issue, noting that the country had accepted responsibility and agreed to restitute. The minister flayed Nigerian officials in Ghana for not obtaining the necessary documents for the land despite making payment since 2000. He said the High Commission did not have the title deeds or obtain approval for the demolished building. Punch reported.
Punch reported that contracts totalling about N137 billion were awarded at the Federal Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday. The virtual meeting was presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). The contracts included those of roads across the country and erosion control in some parts of Nigeria. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; and the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting. Fashola said seven projects worth N122.280 billion were approved at the meeting. He said, “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented a memorandum for the award of a couple of roads across the country. “There are seven roads in all. The roads were valued at a total sum of N122.280 billion expected to generate employment for about 2,564 people. Dualisation of Akure to Ado Ekiti road connecting Ondo and Ekiti states at the sum of N23. 751 billion, Construction of Ukana-Akpautong-Ikot Ntuen road in Akwa Ibom State, for N1. 538 billion, construction of Iluke-Aiyetoro Kiri-Abugi-Eggan road in Kogi State for N25.352 billion. Rehabilitation of Odo-Ona Elewe Idiayunre-Marou Ogun State border road in Oyo state for N4.628, 429 billion, construction of Tamawa-Gulu road in Kano state phase three, Maigar-Guru section for N1.508, 952 billion, rehabilitation of Potiskum-Fika-Bajoga-Gombe road linking Yobe and Gombe states for N59.759 billion, construction of Kachako-Danbazzau road in Kano State for N6.749 billion.” Mohammed, on his part, said the council approved contracts for 11 ecological projects across the six geopolitical zones of the country at N14, 907,754,845.
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the N2.3tn stimulus plan proposed in the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan designed to support the nation’s economy in the face of the disruptions and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan was designed by a committee led by Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo. According to Punch, the approval was given at a virtual meeting of the council presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting. She said, “The total package that we presented today is in the sum of N2.3tn; N500bn of this is a stimulus package that is already provided for in the amended 2020 Appropriation Act. These are funds that we have sourced from special accounts. We also have N1.2tn of this fund to be sourced as structured low-cost loans, which are interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria as well as other development partners and institutions. We have N344bn that will be sourced from bilateral and external sources and also additional funds that we can source locally.” The minister said the plan was meant to enable the government to respond to the triple problems of low exchange rate, youth unemployment as well as negative growth facing the country.
The World Bank Board has approved a $750 million facility for the Nigerian Power Sector in a bid to support the Buhari administration in providing constant power supply to Nigerians. The facility under the Bank’s The Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) buys time in favour of the Nigerian consumers as it forestalls the increase of tariffs especially for the lowest rungs of the consumers and imposes an obligation on DISCOS to step up their service delivery including issues of metering. The comprehensive power reforms being instituted by President Muhammadu Buhari has seen the administration sign strategic power deals including one with the German government and Siemens. In a statement by Shubham Chaudhury the World Bank Country Director on Wednesday, he said, “The target was to also achieve financial and fiscal sustainability and enhance accountability in Nigeria’s power sector.” “The Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) is expected to increase annual electricity supplied to the distribution grid, enhance power sector financial viability while reducing annual tariff shortfalls, and protecting the poor from the impact of tariff adjustments. “This will enable the turnaround of the power sector while helping the Federal Government to redirect large fiscal resources from highly regressive tariff shortfall financing towards critical crisis-responsive and pro-poor expenditures. It will also increase public awareness about ongoing power sector reforms and performance.” The Buhari administration has been working assiduously to improve on-grid and off-grid power supply. Vanguard reported.
The World Bank’s approval of $750 million for Nigeria’s power sector will contribute to fixing the apex bank’s beleaguered balance sheet, analysts say. The World Bank on Wednesday approved $750 million (N270 billion) as part of a recovery fund for Nigeria’s power sector. The fund, which could rise to $3 billion (N1.1 trillion) in a few years, was committed to by the World Bank as part of its programme to improve the CBN’s balance sheet which has been strained by credit to the government. The CBN has specifically been flowing unbudgeted credit to the federal government to fund the power sector since 2014, something the World Bank and a motley crew of economists took a very dim view of because it bypasses the standard Nigerian appropriation process. The Federal government has spent N1.5 trillion since 2014 in bail out funds for the power sector, with the CBN directly funding the bulk of the interventions. Business Day reports.
The Federal Government has announced plans to carry out a demonstration test at the Lagos airport to ascertain the preparedness ahead of flight resumption. The Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika who announced this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 said the exercise which is expected to take place this week Saturday 27 June is to see how things would look like at resumption. According to the Minister, a lot of devices are coming up that would be introduced into air transportation. One of them he said is the reverse chairs to face opposite and put a capsule over and above a passenger. “For example, knowing this guy is a droplet that must cough him and sneeze him and it drops on surface and when you touch your face, it means you get it, then if that is the case then we are coming out with clean surfaces to disinfect and decontaminate them to heighten that within the aircraft itself within surfaces at the airport.” Radio Nigeria reports.
