THE Senate has gave accelerated approval to President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to raise a fresh loan of 850 billion Naira from the domestic capital market to finance projects in the 2020 budget.
The Senate has mandated its committees on finance, appropriation, Domestic and Foreign Debt and National Planning to liaise with the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed to get more details on the loan request.
The approval was given soon after the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking for the approval to go for fresh loan of N850 Billion from the Domestic Capital Market.
President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan read the letter from President Buhari seeking the approval of the Senate to raise a fresh loan of 850 billion Naira from the domestic capital market to ensure adequate funds to finance projects in the 2020 budget.
Former President , Dr Goodluck Jonathan , has called on stronger economies and international agencies like the World Health Organisation to support the efforts of Nigeria and other African nations towards procuring the necessary equipment and kits to enable them conduct aggressive COVID- 19 testing .
He also said lockdown would fail without effective coronavirus testing .
He also appealed to international financing and donor agencies as well as creditor nations to consider granting economic palliatives including debt relief , to help weaker nations cope with the economic difficulties brought upon them by the COVID- 19 pandemic .
Jonathan made the calls while speaking as a panelist in an international web – based conference organised by the Universal Peace Federation , ’ according to a statement on Monday by Jonathan ’ s media aide , Ikechukwu Eze .
According to the statement , Jonathan said , “ It is true that many African nations are observing lockdown of cities and maintaining isolation centres , but if there is no effective testing , locking down populations as currently obtainable in many African countries may not be very effective .
“ The key thing is that Africa is in dire need of testing kits . The world should come to the aid of Africa by sending more of these kits and other needed equipment to make the fight against COVID- 19 more meaningful . Restrictions without strong and aggressive testing will not be impactful .
“ We plead that WHO needs to come to the aid of African countries to enable them to procure the necessary kits to enable them to conduct aggressive testing now that many cities are locked down. ”
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo- Olu , has advised the working population in the state to take advantage of working from home even as the partial lockdown of the state begins Monday , May 4 , 2020 .
Recalled that the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), on Monday evening ordered “ gradual easing ” of lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States but imposed an 8 pm to 6 am curfew as part of measures to curb the spread of the pandemic .
Following the presidential directive on Monday night , Sanwo- Olu advised workers in the state to restrict commute time to – and – from work to between 8 am and 6 pm .
He reminded Lagosians that the use of face masks remains mandatory in public places as stated by the President in his address to the nation.
“ Work hours will be pegged between 8 am and 6 pm , with adequate time allocated for commuting .
Lagos is the epicentre of COVID- 19 in Nigeria . For a lot of industries , the lockdown has shown the many potentials of working from home , please take advantage of this , even as we expand testing , contact tracing and continue to stop the spread of the virus , ” he said .
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, over 50 percent of the total COVID- 19 cases in the country were reported in Lagos , the highest by any state.
University lecturers, whose February and March salaries were withheld, were asked to submit their bank verification numbers (BVNs) to avoid double payment, a top federal government official told newsmen.
The federal government had embargoed the salaries of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members in federal universities for refusing to register on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
However, President Muhammadu Buhari, last week directed that the salaries be paid in view of the economic difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
But one of the conditions given for the payment is that the lecturers should submit their BVNs to their respective vice-chancellors for onward transmission to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
ASUU had since reacted to the president’s gesture, saying it welcomed it as a way of creating room for dialogue but added that its members would not submit their BVNs to the Accountant General’s Office.
The union described the demand as a ploy to enroll them into IPPIS through the “back-door.”
The top official with the Federal Ministry of Finance, however, explained to newsmen that the government’s demand was a revalidation to know those lecturers who had earlier received their February and March salaries under the (IPPIS) and also those on sabbatical leave.
According to him, the government is also seeking ways to temporarily accommodate some of the peculiarities involved in the payment of salaries to the lecturers.
“ASUU’s money has been released for payment of the withheld salaries with presidential approval. So, the only thing is for them to put up a temporary agreement with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General’s Office through their vice-chancellors and then the payment will be effected.
Nigerians should be ready to pay high or low prices for petrol following the price liberalisation scheme currently in place , the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency said this .
The PPPRA is also engaging with the Central Bank of Nigeria to determine the applicable foreign exchange rates for the importation of petroleum products by oil marketers .
The agency ’ s Executive Secretary , Abdulkadir Saidu , said these while answering questions on the new PMS price regime in Nigeria .
He said , “ What we have in place is a market reflective pricing system . Petroleum products prices will be adjusted in line with market realities and the result is what we see presently with prices on the downward slide .
“ Accordingly , price will naturally be adjusted to reflect a true picture of market fundamentals at any particular period , high or low . ”
He , however , noted that efforts were being made to develop alternative fuels to the PMS by deepening the utilisation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas /Compressed Natural Gas as auto gas in Nigeria .
Saidu said this would come into fruition in the medium term and would help to cushion the effect in case of a situation of high oil price.
On what the PPPRA was doing to ensure that marketers get forex at the official rate to promote price affordability , he said the agency was working with the CBN on this .
Saidu said , “ The agency is engaging with the CBN to determine the applicable forex rates for the importation of petroleum products and modality for accessing the applicable forex window by marketers .
“ This rate is reflected on the pricing template to determine the Expected Open Market Price of the product .
This means that going forward, the guiding price to be advised will be determined based on the rates quoted by the CBN. ”
The PPPRA boss said the price would guide the sale of the PMS in Nigeria , adding that the agency planned to extend the same pricing mechanism to kerosene , diesel and others.
Saidu noted that the essence of the price band was to ensure price efficiency that would be beneficial to both consumers and oil marketers .
He explained that the market – based pricing regime came into effect on March 19 following government ’ s approval for the adjustment of PMS price from N145 to N125 / litre.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday made his first public appearance since being hospitalised with coronavirus three weeks ago , saying Britain was beginning to “ turn the tide” on the outbreak but rejecting calls to ease a nationwide lockdown .
In a statement in Downing Street marking his return to work, looking thinner and with his trademark blond hair a little more unruly than usual , Johnson apologised for being away “ for much longer than I would have liked ” .
He thanked the British people for heeding more than a month of stay – at -home orders , saying their action had helped ensure the state – run National Health Service (NHS ) had not become overwhelmed .
“ That is how and why we are now beginning to turn the tide, ” Johnson said , echoing his promise on March 19 that Britain could turn the tide on the outbreak in three months if people followed social distancing rules.
But more than 20 , 000 people have already died in Britain , not including deaths in care homes and in the wider community, making it one of the worst hit countries in the global pandemic .
And while Johnson acknowledged growing demands for the lockdown to be lifted to reduce the economic impact , he insisted that now was not the time .
“ I refuse to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the British people and to risk a second major outbreak , a huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the NHS , ” he said .
Ikeja Electric Plc , one of the power distribution companies in Lagos State , says electricity is not free during the lockdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic in the state .
The company stated this on Monday via Twitter saying “ Electricity is NOT free! Not even during the lockdown . Please PAY your bills to enjoy power supply. ”
It further noted in a statement that it supports the efforts of the Federal Government and the National Assembly to consider a proposal exploring the possibility of providing free electricity for two months as part of palliatives to cushion the effect of the lockdown on customers .
It, however , added , “ At the moment , it is still a proposal undergoing stakeholder reviews . It has not been approved by the Federal Government as a stimulus package or palliative . ”
The company urged Lagosians to pay their electricity bills using online platforms so as to continue to have access to power “ during this difficult period ” .
The PUNCH reports that Lagos has been on FG- ordered lockdown since 11 pm , March 30 as part of efforts to curb the spread of the lethal infection.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as of Sunday night , over 50 per cent of coronavirus cases recorded in the country were reported in Lagos , the highest by any state .
Residents of the state look forward to an address by the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) by 8 pm on Monday to know whether the lockdown will be extended for the second time or lifted .
The Ondo State Government said that it had no plan to return some bags of rice sent to it by the Federal Government as palliatives to the effects of the COVID- 19 lockdown in the state.
The state COVID- 19 Task Force team had earlier stated that some of the received bags of rice had expired and were separated from the good ones , and maybe returned , subject to the directive of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu .
Speaking on the development , Akeredolu ’ s Special Adviser on Public and Inter – Governmental Relations , Mrs Olubunmi Ademosu , said there was no plan to return the rice and other food items sent to the state by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management .
She said , “ The state government commended the gesture by the Federal Government towards cushioning the effect of the lockdown on residents of the country . It behooves on us to appreciate the gesture rather than condemning it.
“ We must not create another problem while finding a solution to one , we have tested the rice, checked the expiry date and I can confirm to you that the rice is of good quality and good for consumption . ”
The state had received 1800 bags of rice in three trailers alongside 700 gallons of vegetable oil last week from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management as part of the measures to cushion the effect of the COVID- 19 lockdown in the state .
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State , has disclosed that close to 60 per cent of the COVID- 19 cases recorded in the state is linked to the University College Hospital , Ibadan .
Makinde made this disclosure during a programme on Fresh 105 . 9 FM , Ibadan , tagged “ COVID- 19 Situation Room ”.
The governor noted that although it was clear that all manners of people go for treatment at the UCH , a high percentage of the confirmed COVID- 19 cases in the state came from the hospital .
He said , “ The three additional cases and the fatality that occurred in the state yesterday (Sunday ) are all linked to UCH . Almost 60 per cent of the cases in Ibadan is linked to the place but I feel they have been a little bit defensive . I had reached out to the CMD .
“ The Federal Ministry of Health has sent a letter to all federal tertiary teaching institutions to work with their respective states and we have opened a line of communication with UCH . It may not be fantastic but it is open and we are brutally frank with ourselves .
“ Apart from us reaching out to UCH management , we have asked them to bring somebody as a representative to work on the COVID- 19 Committee and we are asking them to work with our Commissioner for Health on accreditation and setting up of isolation centres . ”
According to him , where and when necessary , the administration may consider the possibility of walling off communities to ascertain the level and pattern of spread of the disease in the areas .
He disclosed that the state would embark on the distribution of palliatives to 120 , 000 vulnerable residents of the state this week, stressing that the exercise would run concurrently in all the local government councils in the state .
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as of Sunday night , 21 cases of COVID- 19 have been reported in the state .
The management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital , Idi -Araba , has announced the delivery of a baby girl by a COVID – 19 patient .
The hospital via its twitter handle , @ LUTHoffical, said the delivery took place afternoon .
“ A team of LUTH doctors , anesthetists , and nurses delivered a woman with COVID- 19 of a baby girl this afternoon . The 40 – year – old mother gave birth to a 3 . 3 kg baby . Our gratitude goes to these gallant men and women and all warriors making the nation proud in the face of this scourge , ” the hospital tweeted.
The Chairman Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital , Prof . Wasiu Adeyemo , told our correspondent that the newborn was doing well but her sample would be taken for a test soon .
“ The chance of the baby being COVID- 19 is unlikely but we have to take her sample for testing , but she is doing well . The baby is going to be with her mother in a separate ward and room in our isolation centre , ” he said .
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