Aso Villa Reads for Mon. 09/11/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Presidency has said that Lagos, Kano and Abia states will be treated differently from other states of the federation in the distribution of palliatives under the N75 billion Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) MSMEs Survival Fund because they will have more beneficiaries. This was contained in an updated Federal Government report on the implementation of the Survival Fund scheme which was confirmed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande. A detailed distribution procedure for the five tracks under the Survival Fund shows that for:
- Payroll Support, Lagos gets 25, 000 beneficiaries; Kano, 17,000; Abia, 16, 000; other states 13, 000 each;
- General MSME Grants, Lagos, 3, 880; Kano, 3,280; Abia, 3,080; other states, 2,640 each.
- Free CAC registration, Lagos, 9,084; Kano, 8, 406; Abia, 7, 906; other states 6,606 each;
- Artisan & Transport Grants — 36 States and FCT , 9,009; and
- Guaranteed Offtake Stimulus Scheme (MSMEs), Lagos, 3,880; Kano, 3,280; Abia, 3080 and other states 12,640 each. [Vanguard]
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said the Itakpe-Lokoja-Abuja railway project which will connect the new Warri port, will commence in 2021. The Minister added that the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern narrow gauge, the Deep-sea port in Bonny and railway industrial park in Port Harcourt are also part of the project for next year. Continuing, Amaechi noted that the “construction of the central railway from Itakpe to Abuja, connecting to a new Warri port, construction of a 378km single track standard gauge rail line traversing Kano-Katsina-Jibiya with a 20km extension to the commercial boarder town of Maradi in Niger Republic, are projects proposed for 2021.” Amaechi further said extra works on the Lagos- Ibadan corridor, amounting to $656 (funded by the federal government) has commenced. [Vanguard]
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the disposal of all Federal Government Forfeited Assets, within the next six months. To that effect, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Monday, inaugurated a 22-member Inter-Ministerial Committee, to undertake the assignment. Malami disclosed that President Buhari approved the composition of the Committee which is headed by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Dayo Apata, SAN. He said the core mandate of the Committee was to ensure the expedient disposal of all forfeited assets, to generate revenue for the Federal Government. Malami stressed that the Committee has a timeframe of six months for the disposal of all the forfeited assets, noting that its members were drawn from the relevant agencies that deal with the recovery and disposal of Federal Government of Nigeria’s assets.[Vanguard]
The Bank of Industry has expressed the bank’s readiness to provide credit facilities to the tune of one billion naira to empower entrepreneurs in Ekiti State. BOI Manager (Ondo and Ekiti states), Mr Seyi Ashaolu, said the bank was ready to give loans worth N1 billion to individuals with excellent enterprise, noting that the bank was interested in the areas of “health, hospitality and food production”. Ashaolu reiterated the bank’s readiness “to collaborate with the Ministry and actualize the vision of Ekiti State Government to raise young entrepreneurs by providing development loans for them”. He, however, urged the commissioner “to come up with modalities for recovering previous unpaid loans that were accessed by some entrepreneurs in the state”. [Punch]
The Federal Government will focus on the completion of ongoing road and bridge projects in the country rather than beginning new ones, in the implementation of the 2021 budget, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has said. He added that 18 of such road projects, which had reached appreciable level of completion, had been identified across the country for completion within 12 to 15 months. He said the ministry would also focus on the maintenance of about 50 bridges nationwide as a measure to avoid further deterioration of the structures, which he described as critical. “Bridges like the Third Mainland Bridge, the Koton Karfe Bridge and the Makurdi Bridge are part of about 50 bridges being rehabilitated simultaneously among others,” the minister stated. He added that the ministry also had its focus on the completion of the construction of Chanchangi Bridge along Takum-Wukari Road in Taraba State and Ikom Bridge along Calabar-Ikom Road. [Punch]
To subscribe to our Newsletter, click HERE.
