The Republics of Togo , Benin and Niger will be compelled to pay the outstanding debts owed to Nigeria for electricity supplied to them, the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria , Mr Usman Mohammed , has said .
Mohammed , in a telephone interview with our correspondent , said the debts owed by the countries dropped significantly last year following the disconnection of power supply to Benin and Togo in October .
He said , “The Transmission Company of Nigeria is no longer buying and selling electricity . We held a meeting with Benin and Togo in early 2019 and we discussed the outstanding debts .
“ So , when it reached a point that they were defaulting around October last year , we disconnected them. On the basis of that , they paid . We are going to compel them to pay us what is remaining . ”
According to him , the amount of electricity being sold to the international customers is around 300 megawatts .
The average energy sent out on March 24 , 2020 in the country fell by 642 . 8 MW to 3 , 345 MWh/hour , the Advisory Power Team in the office of the Vice President said .
It said a total of 5 , 128 . 2 MW was not generated due to lack of gas ( 3 , 934 . 5 MW ) and high frequency occasioned by unavailability of distribution infrastructure ( 1 , 193 . 7 MW ) .
“ We have excess generation of more than 2 , 000 MW that is not being taken by the distribution companies . From time to time, we have some other challenges , for example , gas supply challenge . ” Mohammed said .
He said the gas supply challenge was usually caused by the delay in payments to gas suppliers.
“ The intention is to ensure that we expand our network , serve Nigeria and at the same time sell as many megawatts of electricity as possible to the neighbouring countries because it is business . It is actually a means of diversifying Nigerian economy , ” he added .
According to the TCN boss, Togo is being supplied electricity by Calabar Power Plant ; Benin by Paras Energy & Natural Resources Development Limited ; and Niger by Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited .
“ So , it is their duty to collect the money including the service charge of the TCN . It is no more government to government ; it is now private sector . This is consistent with the ECOWAS electricity market that was launched in 2018 , ” he said .
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the immediate closure of international airports and land borders for four weeks.
This is just as he directed that all Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) staff and experts who are away on training or international assignments are to return immediately.
In a long thread on via his verified Twitter handle , President Buhari said: “Over the last few days I have received extensive briefings on the state of the nation as it relates to the Covid-19 pandemic, from the relevant Federal Government agencies as well as the Lagos State Government. Accordingly, I approved the following:
“The immediate release of a 10 billion Naira grant to Lagos State, which remains the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in Nigeria. This grant will enable Lagos to increase its capacity to control and contain the outbreak, while also supporting other States with capacity-building.
“The immediate release of a 5 billion Naira special intervention fund to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) to equip, expand and provide personnel to its facilities and laboratories across the country.
“The Nigerian Air Force is already making its fleet available to the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, to enable a better coordinated and more effective response across the country,” the president said.
Buhari added that “To protect our homeland from external exposure, I directed the immediate closure of our International Airports and Land Borders for four weeks in the first instance, to enable us to put up the appropriate policies, processes and infrastructure to cope with suspected and confirmed cases at home, without risking a compounding of the situation with more imported cases.
“The inconvenience caused by these flight and travel restrictions to our fellow citizens abroad who want to return home is regrettable, but it is necessary for the greater good, and I thank you all for your understanding and cooperation.
“I have also directed that only cargo vessels that have been at sea for more than 14 days be allowed to dock in our ports after the crew have been tested and confirmed disease-free by the Port Health Authorities.
“This 14-day restriction, however, does not apply to vessels carrying oil and gas products as by their nature, there is minimal human contact.
“We have also suspended the movement of commuter trains to limit the spread of the virus to other parts of the country.
“I have directed the NCDC to draft all its recent retirees back into service to beef up our manpower as we respond to the pandemic.
“Furthermore, all NCDC staff and experts who are away on training or international assignments are to return immediately.
“Already the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is conducting an evacuation mission to bring back some of our specialists in Central Africa, to enable them to support the national response.
“I commend the monetary policy authorities for their financial intervention to support our entrepreneurs and companies as we go through this difficult time.
“We are also looking at fiscal measures to minimise the negative impact of this pandemic on the livelihood of millions of Nigerians.
“As you are aware we have begun the process of reviewing the federal budget. We shall communicate our fiscal interventions once the budget review process is concluded.
“In the meantime, I have directed the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, to work with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), to ensure that all production of essential items such as food, medical and pharmaceutical products continues unhindered.
“We are engaging our international friends and partners to share knowledge and to seek their support in our response to the pandemic. We are grateful for the show of support thus far – we have already started receiving goods and supplies intended to help us scale up our efforts.
“Let me specially thank and commend all of the hard and heroic work being done by our medical personnel, the NCDC, Port Health Authorities, Security Agencies, State Governments, and all ad-hoc staff and volunteers.
“I urge all Nigerians to be mindful of those among us who seek to spread panic and misinformation and sow confusion at this time.
“We must all pay attention only to the relevant government agencies working day and night to make accurate and useful information available to the public.
“I will also ask all of us to strictly obey all public health guidelines and instructions issued by the Federal and State health authorities, regarding personal hygiene and social distancing.
“These guidelines will be updated from time to time as new information and treatments are obtained.
“In the meantime, I want to assure all Nigerians, that the Federal Government remains committed to protecting all Nigerians. We seek your full support and cooperation as we go through this very difficult time. Together we will triumph over this pandemic,” Buhari said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved immediate release of a N10 billion grant to Lagos State, which remains the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in Nigeria and N5 billion special intervention fund to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) to equip, expand and provide personnel to its facilities and laboratories across the country.
The Lagos State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill empowering security agencies to arrest people who flout directives aimed at stopping the spread of Coronavirus pandemic in the state .
Part of the bill recommended that those who flout the coronavirus lockdown directive be jailed for a month or fined N100 , 000 , The PUNCH reports .
The Lagos lawmakers passed the bill at their sitting .
The bill, titled ‘ A Law to Combat and Stop the Spread of Corona Virus Pandemic in Lagos State and for Connected Purposes’ , has 25 sections .
The bill also empowered Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu to spend at least N20 billion to combat the pandemic in Lagos State .
The Speaker , Rt . Hon. Mudashiru Obasa , directed the Clerk of the House, Mr . Azeez Sanni , to prioritise sending a clean copy of the passed bill to Sanwo- Olu for his assent .
It read , “ The Bill empowers the Governor to incur the Kick – off expenditure sum of N20 billion to combat and stop the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic .
“ The Governor in combating the Coronavirus pandemic shall declare a state of emergency in the State to protect the people of the State from the pandemic .
“ The Bill calls for a Trust Fund named Coronavirus Pandemic Trust Fund with a board to manage this , but supervised by the Executive . The Trust fund shall consist of funds and material donations from individuals , private and public organizations .
“ As from the commencement of this law , only essential services such as food supply , pharmacy , shops , water supply, petrol filling Stations and other relevant agencies shall be in full operations unless the Governor declares otherwise .
“ All security agencies in the state including the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency shall effectively ensure that policy directives of the Governor are implemented and enforced .
“ Where there is a violation of a close down or stay at home order , security Agencies shall have the power to arrest without warrant and may detain any person who violates the close down or stay at home order for at least 48 hours .
“ Where the arrested person is found guilty , the person is liable to a fine of N100 , 000 . 00 or one month imprisonment or three months Community service . ”
Lagos , which is considered as the epicentre of coronavirus in Nigeria , has a total of 32 confirmed cases as of 05 . 45 pm on Thursday .
Breaking : Lagos State House of Asembly passes the bill to combat and Stop the Spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Lagos State and For Connected Purpose into law . @ NCDCgov
Where the arrested person is found guilty , the person is liable to a fine of one Hundred Thousand Nara fine ( N100 , 000 . 00 ) or one (1 ) month imprisonment or three (3 ) months Community service .
— LagosHouseOfAssembly (@ lshaofficial ) March 26 , 2020
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan , has called on the Federal Government to immediately devise ways of providing relief for poor Nigerians whose daily livelihood will be affected as a result of the restriction on movement due to the COVID- 19 pandemic .
Lawan , according to a statement by his media aide, Ezrel Tabiowo , made the appeal following a meeting between the leadership of the National Assembly and some ministers and heads of government agencies in Abuja .
The Senate President said apart from the lockdown of business activities in the country , a plan must be devised by the Federal Government through the release of funds specifically for the purpose of purchasing food and pharmaceutical supplies for ordinary Nigerians .
He warned that not making provisions ahead of time to address the basic needs of poor Nigerians may likely lead to more problems for the government , and less result in controlling the spread of the disease .
He said , “ Our prayer is that we are able to overcome this menace of COVID- 19 in good time , because it is really taking a toll on our lives .
“ If we have to eventually shut down our country , then as a government we must be prepared to have some relief for the most ordinary people.
“ I ’ m not seeing anything at the moment targeted at providing some relief . If we lock up Nigeria today , then we will wake – up trouble , because majority of our citizens go to market everyday before they can get something to eat .
“ So , you lock them up in their houses with a threat of disease and without food . We need to have something , a plan of some sorts , in addition to making sure we don ’ t lock up the farmers market for example , where people can easily go and buy something , and of course pharmacies.
“ We need to have some kind of supplies to people, I don ’ t know how we can achieve this , but we have to be ingenious .
“ This is a time to think deep and wide , to provide for our people , in order for us at least to deal with this challenge at the moment , ” Lawan advised.
The Senate President , in addition , urged the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to establish more testing and isolation centres as soon as more funds are released to it by the Federal Government.
Intensive fumigation of the State House has begun , according to report .
Fumigation experts arrived at the Villa about 9 . 30 am to commence the exercise , which a source said would cover all the offices at the Presidential Villa .
Findings indicated that as of 11 . 15 am , the experts were already in the main building housing the office of the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) , the floors , corridors, and major pathways .
“ These people are not from Villa . They came from outside of the town ( Abuja city ). They are dressed in complete white overalls , masked and wear protective gears.
“ The dressing is similar to how the National Centre for Disease Control officials wear their protective gears” , an official informed The PUNCH .
Recall that human traffic in and out of the Villa was scaled down beginning from Tuesday in a bid to address the raging coronavirus pandemic that had also infected some top government officials.
The Federal Government has announced plans to ban inter – state travel and possibly close down motor parks as part of measures to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus .
Minister for Information and Culture , Lai Mohammed said this at an ongoing press briefing in Abuja .
The Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Health , Dr Tunde Ajayi, has disclosed that six of the patients at the Infectious Disease Hospital have recovered .
Ajayi via his twitter handle , @ thetundeajai , said the patients would be discharged soon .
“ Six of our # COVID19 inpatients have recovered and will be discharged soon . There is something Lagos is doing right . Lagos takes the lead, ” he wrote .
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control , 51 cases were confirmed in the country as of 11 :25 pm on March 25 .
“ Out of the 51 confirmed cases, two have been discharged , while one death has been recorded. Lagos has 32 confirmed cases, ” the NCDC wrote on its website.
Also , the Lagos State Commissioner for Health , Prof . Akin Abayomi , at a briefing on Wednesday said the state was tracing over 2 , 000 contacts .
UPDATE !!!!# COVID 19 Lagos
6 of our # COVID 19 inpatients have recovered and will be discharged soon.
There ‘ s something Lagos is doing right . Lagos takes the lead .
There were insinuations that the Minister of Health , Dr Osagie Ehanire , had gone into self – isolation after possible contact with the Chief of Staff to the President , Abba Kyari.
The CoS had tested positive to COVID- 19 on Monday .
He had travelled to Germany via Egypt on March 7 , 2020 and was accompanied on the trip by the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulation Commission , Prof . James Momoh, and the Minister of Power , Sale Mamman .
The national leadership of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners said it had directed its employees to withdraw their services from fuel depots as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID- 19 .
NARTO , in a statement , signed by its President , Alhaji Yusuf Othman , said it was concerned about the safety and health of all its employees , adding that it “ owes it a duty to take all necessary steps to minimise their exposure to the deadly virus . ”
It noted that the Federal Government has taken a number of measures to manage the identified cases of COVID- 19 and contain its spread.
The union said it would continue to monitor the trend of events “ as we also consider the safety and welfare of our employees who form the vulnerable and integral part of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry . ”
It said , “ In its determination to control the spread of the disease , the Federal Government has banned all public meetings of 50 persons and above in any one place.
“ In compliance with this directive , we have similarly directed all our employees (tanker drivers ) to keep away from the depots and stay at home with effect from Friday, March 27 , 2020 pending when the situation is brought under control .
“ This action is necessitated by the fact that our loading depots across the country are places of beehive of activities containing more than 500 persons at any one time . ”
NARTO assured its workers that it would stand by them at this critical moment “ as we equally implore them to be of good conduct and law -abiding. ”
“ Finally, we join millions of our country men and women in prayers against the continued proliferation of the disease throughout the world and , are confident in the capacity of our health institutions to address the challenges which COVID – 19 poses to our country and humanity as a whole , ” it added .
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