PTF Mobilises 3,300 Informants To Report Suspected COVID-19 Cases In Kano

 

   The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 will engage about 3,300 informants to report suspected cases of coronavirus in Kano State.

  The PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, revealed this on Tuesday in Abuja. He made the disclosure when he led members of the task force to the House of Representatives chamber of the National Assembly in the nation’s capital.

   Mustapha briefed the lawmakers on the measures being put in place by the Federal Government to address the situation in Kano and curb the spread of the disease in the state. He explained that the task force has mobilised the informants for a house-to-house search and report suspected cases of COVID-19 in the state. The PTF chairman believes Kano is fast emerging as the epicentre of the pandemic in the northern region of the country.

   As part of efforts to address the situation, he revealed that a total of 58 technical staff from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have been deployed in the state. According to Mustapha, the COVID-19 testing capacity in Kano has been increased to 400 per day and plans are in place to increase it to 2,000 daily by the end of the week.

  He, therefore, used the opportunity to call on the National Assembly to pass legislation that would further cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and improve the health sector. Among the PTF members who accompanied the SGF are the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, and the Director-General of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.

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Infectious Diseases Bill To Go Through Public Hearing- Gbajabiamila

   

   The controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill, 2020 being debated on the floor of the House of Representatives will be put to public hearing, the Speaker has said. Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, who seemed to have bowed to public pressure, stated this during Tuesday’s plenary at the lower chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja.

   He said, “The Control of Infectious Diseases Bill will be put forward to a public hearing where stakeholder contributions will be sought to make improvements to the bill before it is reviewed and debated by the Committee of the whole.

  “It is from the accumulation of these myriad views, suggestions and good faith critiques from within and outside the House that we will arrive at final legislation that meets the present and future needs of our country, and which we all can support in good conscience,” the speaker added. He, however, disagreed with those who condemned the timing of the bill, insisting that it was appropriate to enact such a bill at this time.

   The speaker also denied claims that the leadership of the House had received $10 million to pass the bill.  He decried that the allegations were weighty, and the House would take legal action. “Suffice it to say that none of these allegations is true. Unfortunately, we now live in a time when conspiracy theories have gained such currency that genuine endeavours in the public interest can quickly become mischaracterised and misconstrued to raise the spectre of sinister intent and ominous possibility,” Gbajabiamila said. He added, “In the recent uproar, certain fundamental truths have been lost and are worth remembering.

“Our current framework for the prevention and management of infectious diseases is obsolete and no longer fit for purpose. “The current law severely constrains the ability of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to take proactive action to prevent the entry into Nigeria of infectious diseases and the management of public health emergencies when they occur.”

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Pregnant coronavirus patient dies in Jigawa

   

   The Jigawa State Government has confirmed that a pregnant woman had died of COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to two.

   Abba Zakari, the state’s Commissioner for Health, Abba Zakari, made this known. 

He said, “The state recorded the second death from a pregnant female patient, a resident of Miga Local Government Area of the state, who bled to death as a result of the miscarriage she had at the Dutse Isolation Centre.

   “She is said to be the wife of a Lagos returnee, a resident of Fanisau community in Dutse Local Government Area, who died from the disease.” The commissioner further said the deceased was initially admitted at two different health facilities in the state before she tested positive for COVID-19. The woman has since been buried according to Islamic rites.

Nigerian Govt Receives $311m Abacha Assets From US, Jersey

 

 

   The Nigerian government has received $311,797,866.11 recovered assets of General Sani Abacha repatriated from the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

The Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, confirmed this on Monday in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations at his office, Dr Umar Gwandu.

According to Malami, the amount increased significantly from over $308 million mentioned in an earlier statement in February to over $311million as a result of the interest that accrued from February 3 to April 28, when the fund was transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He noted that the litigation process for the return of the assets titled ‘Abacha III’ commenced in 2014 while the diplomatic process that culminated in the signing of the Asset Return Agreement commenced in 2018.

The agreement was signed on February 3 by the governments of Nigeria, the United States, and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

“This Agreement is based on international law and cooperation measures, that sets out the procedures for the repatriation, transfer, disposition, and management of the assets,” he said.

According to the statement, the recovery effort consolidates on the record of the Muhammadu Buhari administration which has a history of recovery of $322m from Switzerland in 2018.

It added that the recovered loots were transparently and judiciously deployed in supporting indigent Nigerians as specified in the agreement signed with Switzerland and the World Bank.

Malami, who led the negotiation team, noted that the tripartite agreement and the process towards the implementation represented a major watershed in International Asset Recovery and Repatriation as it sought to provide benefit to the victims of corruption.

He said, “In line with the 2020 Asset Return Agreement, the fund has been transferred to a Central Bank of Nigeria Asset Recovery designated account and would be paid to the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) within the next fourteen days.

“The NSIA is responsible for the management and execution of the projects to which the funds will be applied.”

The minister insisted that the latest recovery would support and assist in expediting the construction of three major infrastructure projects across Nigeria – Lagos – Ibadan Expressway, Abuja – Kano Road, and the Second Niger Bridge.

He revealed that the government was in the process of establishing a Project Monitoring Team to oversee the implementation of the projects and report regularly on progress made to the public.

In order to ensure transparent management of the returned assets, Malami said the government would engage a Civil Society Organisation who has combined expertise in substantial infrastructure projects, civil engineering, anti-corruption compliance, anti-human trafficking compliance, and procurement to provide additional monitoring and oversight.

He noted that the process for the engagement of the CSO monitor has already commenced with the adverts placed in two local newspapers.

The recovered funds, according to the minister, were laundered through the U.S. banking system and then held in bank accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey.

He revealed that a U.S. Federal Court in Washington D.C. forfeited the money in 2014, as property involved in the illicit laundering of the proceeds of corruption arising in Nigeria during the period when General Abacha was Head of State from 1993 to 1998.

Malami added that in 2017, the Nigerian government filed a case in the Bailiwick of Jersey to assert its authority as the owner of the funds and as the victim of the action of General Abacha.

He, therefore, called for greater cooperation and mutual respect among countries in the implementation of expeditious cooperation measures already set out in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and in the implementation of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) principles on the repatriation of stolen assets.

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President Muhammadu Buhari- Only a collective international approach will mitigate the devastating effect of COVID-19

 

  President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Abuja said only a collective international approach will mitigate the devastating effect of COVID-19, while assuring that the Federal Government will intensify efforts to monitor, test and isolate more people, especially at the community level.

President Buhari, who participated in a virtual Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), said national, regional and global strategies would be required to tackle the pandemic, which, he said, had ravaged humanity and caused unprecedented devastation to the well-being of people, their livelihoods, and global economy.

“The theme of this extra-ordinary Summit ‘United Against COVID-19 Pandemic,’ aptly reflects the importance for a proactive approach and the need for multilateral cooperation in finding quick solutions to the challenges that COVID-19 pandemic poses to our nations.