The directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria to all the authorized dealers to stop processing applications for the importation of maize and the plan by the Nigerian government to ban citizens from some countries from gaining entry into Nigeria in order to ensure safety at Nigerian airports and the country are some of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Vanguard reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all authorised dealers to discontinue the processing of Form M for the importation of maize with immediate effect.
The CBN made this known in a circular signed by Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji, the Director of Trade and Exchange Department of the apex bank in Abuja.
Form M is a mandatory statutory document to be completed by all importers for the importation of goods into the country. The apex bank directed all authorised dealers to submit the list of form M already registered for the importation of maize.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian government on Monday said it would ban citizens from some countries from gaining entry into Nigeria in order to ensure safety at Nigerian airports and the country in general.
It said this was another reason why government had not approved the re- commencement of commercial international flights into and out of Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this in Abuja while speaking at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
“On the question about when we are beginning international travels, certainly you are very aware that so many countries had placed ban on countries that we cannot go even from Nigeria. “Also Nigeria, of course, will place ban on other countries that cannot come in here, because everyone is trying to keep safe.” he said.
The Sun says that the Nigerian government has reduced the arrival time for passengers at newly reopened airports from three to one hour 30 minutes before flights.
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika, who made this known on his Twitter handle on Monday, June 13, said that based on the review of operations since July 8, 2020 re-opening of airports, passengers could now arrive one and half hours before flights instead of three hours previously contained in the guidelines.
“My colleagues and I have reviewed passenger facilitation at our airports; consequently I am happy to announce that henceforth, travellers are to arrive one hour and a half before their departure time for domestic flights.
Travellers are advised to check-in online, please” he tweeted. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had previously said that passengers must arrive at least three hours before their take-off time when commercial operations resume at airports.
The newspaper also says that the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mr. Clem Ikanade Agba, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was laying a solid foundation for lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next decade through the Medium-Term National Development Plans (MTNDPs 2021-2025 and 2026-2030) and the long-term perspective plan, otherwise known as Agenda 2050.
Agba said the MTNDPs were anchored on President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, while the perspective long-term plan would help to consolidate on the exit strategy and the plan to build economic prosperity for the nation and its citizenry.
He spoke on Monday when the House of Representatives Committee on National Planning and Economic Development led by its Chairman, Hon. Olododo Abdulganiyu Saka, visited the ministry in pursuance of its oversight function.
“The planning process will involve participation from sub-nationals (State and Local Governments), major political parties, National Assembly, youth and women organizations and other relevant stakeholders,” he said.
ThisDay reports that the Nigerian government yesterday released new guidelines ahead of the planned resumption of schools without fixing a date for students to resume studies.
The report noted that this is coming as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that new research findings have suggested that COVID-19 may indeed be airborne.
The guidelines outlined actions, measures and requirements needed for the safe reopening of schools after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the guidelines released by the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja yesterday, the safe distancing measures in the new guidelines required that in schools and other learning facilities, learners should among others be supported to stay two metres apart.
The Nation newspaper says that the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Monday assured that the proposed tariff hike, now suspended, would not affect poor electricity customers, if okayed.
In his presentation to the Senate Committee on Power at the commission’s Head office in Abuja, the NERC Chairman, Prof. James Momoh, told the lawmakers, who were in their oversight function that a mechanism had been put in place to absorb the masses of the adverse effects of the hike.
“It is not going to affect the poor. We will make sure that the downtrodden and the people you feel for at the moment will not be affected by any increase we will be bringing forth.
“It will be based on the hours of service and the quality of power available there. We don’t want the poor to subsidise the payment of the rich,” he said.
GIK/APA