ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: THURSDAY

19 Jan ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: THURSDAY

🌎Highlights of Nigeria’s FEC Meeting
The Federal Executive Council at its weekly meeting on Wednesday chaired by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, approved the sum of N2.29 billion for the procurement and assemblage of training aircraft and simulator in Zaria, Kaduna State. Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika said that at least of such aircraft would be procured from Hungary, assembled in Nigeria and put into use, before the end of the Buhari administration in May.
Other highlights of the FEC meeting include: Approval of over N1.4 billion for the procurement of vehicles to ensure effective supervision and monitoring of the hydro-carbon pollution remediation project in Ogoni land, in Rivers State.
*Approval of the revised estimated total cost and augmentation contract for procurement and installation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) in three airports namely Port Harcourt International Airport, Kano International Airport and Katsina Airport.
*Approval for NNPC Ltd to Invest fresh N1.9trn in construction of 44 Roads. The roads that will be under this first phase include the Benin-Asaba corridor, Abuja-Lokoja-Onitsha-Owerri-Aba, Shagamu-Benin, Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Makurdi, Kano-Maiduguri, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta and Lagos-Badagry-Seme.’’
*FEC also approved the augmentation of the contract for the rehabilitation of the Oshogbo-Ilesha road phase 1 in Osun State in the sum of N1.2 billion. The approval revised the subsisting contract sum from N3 billion to N4 billion

🌎President Buhari on Wednesday arrived Abuja from Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital where he attended the Third Forum of the African Conference for Peace.
Oil prices fell by about 1% on Thursday, extending losses from the previous day, as a surprise jump in U.S. crude stocks weighed on the market along with fears of a recession that were heightened by disappointing U.S. retail sales and output data. Brent crude futures lost 65 cents, or 0.8%, to $84.33 a barrel at 1030 GMT.

🌎Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, says the Senate is ready to approve the N23.7tn debt restructuring request made by the President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year.

🌎Nigeria has enough foreign exchange reserves to withstand a global recession this year, Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed has affirmed

🌎The CBN is to sanction banks dispensing old Naira notes at the ATMs, the Director of the Legal Services Department Mr. Kofo Salam-Alada said
* The Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele has been invited to a meeting by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum over the redesigned naira notes and the timeline to fade out old notes.
* Mr Emefiele, has filed his appeal against the ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which compelled him to appear in a $53 million judgment debt suit.

🌎The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) has projected Nigeria’s Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) growth to average at 2.98 per cent in 2023 just as it said employment rate could reach 37%.

🌎IGP Usman Baba, will not be retiring when he turns 60 years on March 1, 2023, because of the elections in the country, the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, said on Wednesday.

🌎Security Stories: The Edo State Government on Wednesday said that the two remaining Igueben Train Station kidnap victims have been rescued, while two village chiefs and five others have been arrested in connection with the crime.
* The Parish priest of St. Gregory Catholic Church, Omu-Ekiti, Rev. Father Michael Olofinlade has regained freedom after spending three days in captivity.
* Kidnappers on Wednesday released three of the five members of a Baptist Church in Iwo, Osun State, they abducted after receiving ransom.

🌎Russia-Ukraine War: President Volodymyr Zelensky has again urged Western allies to send more weapons to Ukraine and vowed to liberate Crimea in an address to the World Economic Forum.
* Ukraine’s military said Russia is pressing its offensive in the direction of the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.