Aso Villa Reads for Friday, 25th June, 2021
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Federal Government has so far paid N24.8 billion as stipends to 413,630 beneficiaries of its Special Public Works Programme (SPWP). Minister of State for Labour Festus Keyamo made this known on Thursday in Abuja during the weekly briefing organised by the Presidential Communication Team. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Special Public Works Programme, domiciled in the National Directorate of Employment, a parastatal of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, was introduced in Oct. 2019, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval. [Daily Sun]
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved allocation of 3-bedroom houses to the Super Eagles Squad that won the African Cup of Nations in Tunis, Tunisia, in 1994, making real a promise by the Federal Government. Following a memo by Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, the President approved the allocations in their states of preference, noting that six players and three technical crews received their houses already. [Guardian]
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari, has disclosed the open price of premium motor spirit, petrol, has risen to N256 per litre. With the present pump price of petrol pegged at N162 per litre, it means the government is subsidizing the product by N94 per litre. Kyari said petrol daily truck out has risen significantly to 103 million per litre. Going by this rate, it means the federal government would be spending about N9,682,000,000 to subsidize Nigerians daily consumption. [Vanguard]
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has disclosed that it has launched a Med-Safety mobile app as part of efforts to monitor Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) response. Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, announced this to update Nigerians on the status of the COVID-19 vaccination exercise. Shuaib stated that any individual can report vaccine side effect for him or herself, or on behalf of another person and will receive a timely response. [Tribune]
The Federal government has revealed that the forthcoming five days EnjoyNigeria Expo will generate over 100, 000 jobs for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country. Speaking in Abuja, the Director, Investment Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, Mrs Kemi Arodudu disclosed that the EnjoyNigeria Expo will scale up the value chain delivery of the creative, entertainment, travel, trade and cultural industries of the Nigerian economy. She said the Expo which will be held in Abuja by Mid November 2021 will assist Small and Medium Enterprises to be positioned for increased job and wealth creation as well as gain access to global markets. [Tribune]
The Federal Government (FG) on Thursday said it is committing $1bn on three flagship road projects in Nigeria. It said this was one of the selected interventions of government to boost the economy. The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, made the disclosure at the official opening of the 51st Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Abuja. Osinbajo who was represented by the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Abubakar Aliyu, identified the projects as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, and Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway. [Tribune]
In a bid to curb oil sector retrenchments in Nigeria, the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank on Wednesday signed a $30m working capital and capacity building fund to support oil and gas services firms. Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, and Managing Director, NEXIM Bank, Abba Bello, signed the funding agreement at the Abuja office of the Nigerian content monitoring agency. Wabote said the Oil Producers Trade Section, Independent Petroleum Producers Group and Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria had raised concerns over funding challenges confronting oil services firms, as this had made most of the companies to consider downsizing their staff.[Punch]
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said that Nigeria would lead other African countries in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain technology. He said this would lead to the economic diversification of the continent. He said that with the growing population of the continent and the dwindling oil revenue, especially in Nigeria, there was a need to harness other areas to diversify the economy. [Guardian]
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