Aso Villa Reads for Wednesday, May. 26th, 2021
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board said that it had committed a total of $332m to venture partnerships and targeted $3.7bn in direct investment to the country. The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, said this at the 2021 edition of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair held virtually. He listed the proposed projects under the partnerships and as well as the achievements the board had made from the previous edition in 2019. Wabote said the partnerships included the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery at Ibigwe, Imo State, the establishment of 80 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing plant with the NEDO Gas Processing Company in Kwale, Delta, and a 300 MMscfd Kwale Gas Gathering hub. [Punch]
THE Federal Government on Tuesday announced that it had been able to feed about 10 million school children under its National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, announced this in Abuja and also stated that over 100,000 cooks had been engaged by the Federal Government through the NHGSFP. [Punch]
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has expressed the urgent need to improve procedures, documentation and regulations in the solid mineral sector. She explained that the effort to put in place guidelines, procedures and documentation requirements for the solid minerals sector is another of such deliberate federal government policy measure to develop its monumental mining potential and minimising dependence on oil as the nation continues her drive towards a progressively diversified economic base.[This Day]
The federal government has introduced additional standards for solar panels, batteries, inverters, meters and charge controllers for manufacturers and importers of components of the product in the country. Coming under the framework of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), a technical assistance programme co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German government, the government stated that the standards will support its objective of accelerating access to energy. The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Farouk Salim, who spoke during the event, noted that making use of quality components guarantee the lifespan of technologies and makes projects more bankable and sustainable to attract the level of investment required to grow the market. [This Day]
The federal government through the Debt Management Office (DMO) has raised N801.53 billion from the local bond market in the first five months of the year as a total of N63.2 billion matured Treasury Bills is expected to be rolled over today. Interest in the bond market has been in the uptick this year with investors staking N798.2 billion on the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds in five months and another N3.33 billion in the FGN Savings Bond in the first four months of the year. The Savings Bond has seen an increase in subscription as its yield increased from 2.197 per cent and 3.197 per cent to 5.522 per cent and 6.522 per cent for the two and three years bonds respectively. Allotment for the Savings bond in January stood at N18.14 million and N78.05 million for the two and three-year bonds. [Leadership]
Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has flagged off the distribution of utensils and aprons for the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NSIP). She further said that the School Feeding Programme would increase the enrollment of children into schools, boost their nutrition and encourage entrepreneurship, enhance agricultural production and generate millions of rural jobs in the country.[Leadership]
Seven Nigerian Content Ministerial Regulations have been approved and gazetted, making them legislations that can be implemented by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the board has said. Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Wabote, disclosed this. Mr. Simbi Wabote, who was represented by the Director Legal Services, Mr. Mohammed Umar, stated that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva approved the guidelines, and became effective on April 2, 2021. [This Day]
The federal government, Monday, took delivery of disaster risk reduction equipment from the Government of Japan. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, received the specialized equipment and vehicles donated through the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA. The equipment are for search and rescue of persons in distress. The induction took place on Monday at the Nigerian Army Resource Center Abuja during the presentation of the 2020 Annual Report of NEMA. The equipment presented to the minister included nine units of rescue vehicles with rescue equipment and four units of mobile water purifier systems with vehicles. [Vanguard]
Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Aviation, Engr. Hassan Musa, on Monday, confirmed the receipt of the sum of N5 billion out of the total sum of N26 billion approved for the COVID-19 Intervention fund for the industry. He explained that the sum of the N22 billion intervention fund was meant for the industry including airlines, car hire operators while the balance meant for the Agencies are yet to be released including the palliatives for salaries. [Tribune]
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted the Nigerian Sustainable Finance Principles (NSFP) as developed by the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC) for the capital market. SEC said the objectives of the guidelines on NSFP are to stimulate a resilient, competitive and sustainable capital market that promotes economic development and improves the quality of life for all as well as improve corporate governance practices to ensure that players in the market operate in a transparent and sustainable manner. [This Day]
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Federal Ministry of Transportation are working together to ensure that commuters and road users within Nigeria and ECOWAS Sub-region are adequately compensated in the event of an accident. In this vein, the two agencies are partnering to ensure provision of adequate insurance for road transport owners and users within Nigeria and ECOWAS member countries.They have therefore agreed to immediately establish a joint committee to look into different areas of interest to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship. {Business Day]
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians is at the heart of the human capital development of Federal Government. He gave the assurance on the second day of the “Fourth Annual Legislative Summit on Health” with the theme “Universal Health Coverage and Health Security (HS): Two Sides of a Coin for an Efficient Health System”.The vice president said Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) was committed to the achievement of UHC for all citizens through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), which had been revised to provide a richer basic minimum package of health services to meet common healthcare needs of citizens. According to him, the fund will help the poor and vulnerable to access essential health services without experiencing catastrophic out of-pocket expenditure that often spells financial ruin to the average citizen. [Business Day Pg 28]
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