Aso Villa Reads For Thur. 27/10/2022
Every day, we bring you the important stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Seoul, South Korea, witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. and Daewoo Group of South Korea for the rehabilitation of the Kaduna refinery. This is according to a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled ‘Kaduna refinery rehabilitation gets boost as President Buhari witnesses signing of MoU between NNPC Ltd and Daewoo Group in Seoul.’ “The President was particularly excited as the signing came against the back of ongoing rehabilitation works at Warri refinery by the same Daewoo Group which will at the first instance, deliver fuels production before the first half of 2023,” the statement read in part. [Punch]
The Federal Executive Council has approved the sum of N17.4 billion for the provision of broadband infrastructure for micro, small and medium enterprises as well as tertiary and higher learning institutions across the six geo-political zones. This will come in the form of a supply of IT communications equipment and furniture for communication centres in the nation’s six geo-political zones by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. This is as it approved N3.992 billion for the augmentation of road projects in Kwara and Niger states. [Punch]
The Federation Account Allocation Committee at its meeting shared N700.235bn to the three tiers of government, as federation allocation for the month of September, 2022. From this amount, inclusive of Gross Statutory Revenue, Value Added Tax, and Electonic Money Transfer Levy, the Federal Government received N262.636bn, the states received N217.191bn, the Local Government Councils got N160.416bn, while the oil producing states received N59.992bn as derivation, (13 per cent of mineral revenue). [Punch]
Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said medical support had been provided to 199 Local Government Areas affected by flooding across the country. Farouq briefed State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The minister said that the coordinated response presented an opportunity to operationalise the recently approved National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan. [Vanguard]
The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced its decision to redesign the Naira. The Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who announced this at a press briefing in Abuja, said the exercise would affect the highest denominations: 200, 500, 1000 notes. Emiefele, who said the action was taken to control the currency in circulation, revealed that the new naira notes will be in circulation from December 15. [Vanguard]
The United States of America has returned 23 looted artifacts to Nigeria. Nigeria’s Ambassador to the US, Dr Uzoma Emenike, on October 25, at a brief ceremony in Abuja, handed the repatriated artifacts to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada. [Vanguard]
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said the digital currency, eNaira, has recorded N8bn transactions in its one year of introduction. He disclosed this while delivering his speech at the ‘eNaira 1-year anniversary’ event in Lagos on Tuesday. As part of the CBN’s mandate of fostering a safe, credible, and robust payment system, he said the bank deployed the eNaira, Africa’s central bank digital currency in October 2021, given the potential benefits it portends for a digital economy. [Punch]
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has kick-started the airlifting of relief materials for residents of Rivers and Bayelsa States in Benin, the Edo state capital. Addressing newsmen at the Benin Airport during the exercise, NEMA Head of Benin Operation Office, Dahiru Yusuf, said the items were received from the aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Airforce 107 Air Maritime Group, Benin City. He said the relief materials for Bayelsa and River Sates flood victims was brought to NEMA operation office in Benin for airlifting to two states due to inaccessible road occasioned by the flood. [Sun News]
