Aso Villa Reads for 31/5/18
Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria.
Business Day (May 31, 2018, page 6) reports that “President Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul, MRO, facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance established in Lagos would save the country an estimated $90m annually. In his Democracy Day broadcast on Tuesday, 29th May, 2018, President Buhari stated that the Transportation Sector continues to undergo a series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security. He said the nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals due for commissioning in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu, while Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the Governments of other countries will significantly open up new flight routes.”
According to Daily Trust “the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the nation’s foreign reserve presently stands at $48 billion, rising by 100 per cent in the last 12 months, just as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate improved to 1.95 per cent in the first quarter of 2018. The bank’s Deputy Governor, Mr Bayo Adelabu, who spoke at the official commissioning of the CBN Medical Diagnostic and Treatment Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, lauded the Godwin Emefiele-led management of the apex bank for the drastic reforms. He also presented a graphic analysis of how CBN rescued the economy in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic recovery plan to safeguard the sinking exchange rate, inflation and recession. Adelabu noted that during the recession, inflation which was at single digit in 2012 and 2013, rose to 18.5 per cent — more than doubled.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that he will soon sign the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill into law. The President stated this amongst others in his Democracy Day broadcast to the nation, to mark the 3rd anniversary of his administration in office. The President who used the opportunity to list his administration’s achievements in office in the last three years, announced that in few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill” The Bill which was passed since July, 2017 had been undergoing several legislative processes as stipulated for the amendment of any section of the 1999 constitution. The bill which was enacted by the National Assembly seeks to amend Section 131(b) of the 1999 Constitution which requires that “a person is qualified to be President if he has attained the age of 40 years”. Business Day reported this.
“The Acting Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Mr Victor Muruako, has said that over N650 billion has been remitted as operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the last two years. Muruako made this known while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.” According to him, “it was part of the FRC’s mandate to ensure that scheduled corporations under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007, remitted 80 per cent of their operating surplus into the CRF. According to him, through the commission’s intervention, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has complied with the FRA, and has within the first quarter of 2018 remitted about N49.7 billion to the CRF.” Daily Trust reported that the Acting Chairman “said under the present administration, there had been a lot of improvement in payment of operating surpluses, adding that more corporations were added to the schedule in 2016.”
Business Day reported that “the World Bank has slated Nigeria as one of West African countries to benefit from solar funding as Africa’s most populous nation struggles with epileptic power supply. The Bretton Woods institution will provide 19 West African countries $200 million in funding as part of the Off-Grid Electrification Project. Implemented by the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREAE), the initiative will enable the deployment of solar photovoltaic systems for households, utilities and production infrastructure. Its implementation will be in two phases that will span five years between 2017 and 2022.” The report mentioned that “the beneficiary countries of the project are Mauritania, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.”
According to Daily Times “the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it will invest a whopping $35billion over a period of 10 years to boost economic growth in the African continent, adding that the development will raise Africa’s GDP to above $5.6 trillion. The AfDB noted that Africa needs to industrialize and add value to everything that it produces from agriculture, to minerals, oil, gas and metals. AfDB’s President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, disclosed this at the end of the annual Board of Governors meeting in Bussan, South Korea, at the weekend, adding that the continent must focus more on industrialization to boost economic development. Adesina said that the region was “de-industrializing”, calling on continents’ leaders to learn from Korea, China and Japan.”
Business Day (May 31, 2018, page 6) reports that “as part of measures to address insecurity along the eastern coast and rebuild the confidence of residents who have several times been attacked by kidnappers and cultists, the Nigerian Army has opened an operational base in Epe, one of the five divisions that make up Lagos State.” The report mentioned that “the army base was opened on Monday 28, with Turkur Buratai, a lieutenant general and chief of army staff saying it would also help to facilitate the movement of other military formations to the area. Buratai, who acknowledged the support of the Lagos State Government in the establishment of the military base ,was joined at the event by Governor Akinwunmmi Ambode and other officials of the Government”.
