Aso Villa reads for 9/1/18

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Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria…

“President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to immediately relocate to Benue State to prevent further loss of lives and forestall the crisis in the state from escalating and spreading.” A statement by the force spokesman, Jimoh Moshood published in Punch reveals “that in compliance with the directive, the IG would be moving to Benue state with five units of riot policemen making a total of 10 units deployed in the state, in addition to other police contingents and special forces on the ground.”

According to Tribune, “the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) of the Federal Ministry of Environment has assured the people of Ogoniland in Rivers State that the Federal Government is committed to the completion of the remediation of the area even as a progress report on work done on the project.” The paper reported that the “Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Dr. Marvin Dekil, gave this position on the occasion of the 2018 Ogoni Day in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.”

“UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has congratulated the Government of Nigeria on conducting trials of Boko Haram suspects, and urged it to ensure due process and transparency by granting access to human rights observers,” Guterres stated this in the Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel. “He commended the efforts of the countries participating in the Multinational Joint Task Force, saying they have reduced the operational capacities and geographical reach of Boko Haram”. This was reported by Daily Trust.

“With a pump price of N145 ($0.40) per liter, Nigeria has been ranked as the eighth cheapest place in the world to buy petrol.” According to Brand Spur “other countries among the cheapest places to buy petrol are Venezuela ($0.01), Turkmenistan ($0.29), Kuwait ($0.35), Iran ($0.36), Egypt ($0.37), Algeria ($0.37), Ecuador ($0.39), Bahrain ($0.42) and Syria ($0.44). The average price of petrol around the world is $1.12 (N403.2) per litre, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com, which publishes data on retail fuel prices around the world and tracking over 150 countries on a weekly basis.”

NAIJ.com reported that “the Benue State House of Assembly has banned open rearing and grazing in the state. Offenders upon conviction will be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with a fine of 1 million. Where damage is done to crops, the farm will be evaluated and the manager of the livestock be compelled to pay.”

“Repairs have been completed on the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELP) which supplies gas to power plants, four days after it was shut down. The situation promises to restore production activities at manufacturing companies where gas serves mainly as a source of energy”. Business Day reports that “the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Monday that it has ensured return of gas supply to the power plants following directive from Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the corporation that the Nigerian Gas Processing and Transportation Company Ltd (NGPTC) carry out an assessment of the damage with a view to getting a prompt solution.”

“Nigeria’s external reserves have risen to $40.4 billion, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed Monday, making it the first time in exactly four years since the country’s reserves hit the $40 billion mark.” ThisDay reports that “this was just as the CBN injected $210 million into the interbank window of the foreign exchange market. Figures obtained from the CBN indicated that external reserves reached the $40.4 billion last Friday, indicating an increase of $4.8 billion, compared with $35.6 billion as of December 5, 2017. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, towards the end of last month had put the value of the external reserves at $38.2 billion.”

The Nation Nigeria reports that “the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday assured Nigerians that there would no longer be fuel scarcity which had caused unbearable queues for Nigerians. The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru said this in Abuja at the 2018/2019 crude oil term contract bid opening. According to him, the opening of bids is an indication of President Muhammadu Buhari’s drive for transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business.”