The dispute that arose on Monday night between the leading food and infrastructure conglomerate (BUA) and the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) over claims by BUA that it had purchased one million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for Nigeria is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
ThisDay reports that a dispute arose on Monday night between the leading food and infrastructure conglomerate, BUA, and the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) over claims by BUA that it had purchased one million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for Nigeria.
This came on a day the federal government barred the private sector from administering COVID-19 vaccine, reserving the vaccination exclusively for the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) for safety reasons.
BUA had claimed in a statement on Monday that it had paid for one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine for Nigeria through the AFREXIM Vaccine programme in partnership with CACOVID.
The company, which said the vaccines would be distributed at no cost to Nigerians, had also claimed that the one million doses would be delivered next week, pledging to buy additional 5m vaccines through BUA/CACOVID/AFREXIM partnership.
BUA in a statement on Monday afternoon quoting its founder, Abdul Samad Rabiu, had said: “BUA decided to secure these 1million vaccines by paying the full amount for the vaccines today because these vaccines became available only last week through AFREXIM. We expect the vaccines to be delivered within the next 14 days and hope priority will be given to our frontline workers who have committed their lives to managing the pandemic.”
CACOVID in a statement Monday night however disowned BUA’s contribution of COVID-19 vaccine.
The Punch says that Nigeria’s recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 is expected to be weak and gradual under current policies, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
The IMF also stated that the country’s real Gross Domestic Product is expected to recover to its pre-pandemic level only in 2022.
It stated in its report titled ‘IMF executive board concludes 2020 Article IV consultation with Nigeria’ that real GDP growth in 2021 was expected to turn positive at 1.5 percent.
It stated, “Nigeria’s recovery is expected to be weak and gradual under current policies. Real GDP growth in 2021 is expected to turn positive at 1.5 per cent. Real GDP is expected to recover to its pre-pandemic level only in 2022.”
The IMF stated that the near-term outlook was subject to downside risks from pandemic-related developments with Nigeria experiencing a second wave. Over the medium term, subdued global recovery and decarbonisation trends were expected to keep oil prices low, it stated.
The IMF said non-oil growth was also expected to remain sluggish, reflecting inward-looking policies and regulatory uncertainties.
The Nation says that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued Licence to Establish (LTE) the first floating LNG production plant for the processing of 176MMcfd natural gas and condensate to UTM Offshore Limited, an indigenous oil and gas firm, at a presentation at the DPR headquarters Abuja yesterday.
Presenting the licence, the Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sarki Auwalu, explained that the milestone was a reinforcement of the promise and commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians to promote indigenous participation in the oil and gas sector and ensure that companies come to Nigeria and do business in an equitable way to stimulate the economy and create jobs.
Auwalu assured that DPR would continue to create opportunities and enable buisness for companies by providing the regulatory tools of licences, permits and approvals for investors.
The Managing Director of UTM Offshore Limited, Mr. Julius Rone promised to abide with the terms of issuance within the 24-month validity of the LTE from the date of issue.
The newspaper reports that dissatisfied with the defence of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the audit query on the alleged illegal withdrawal of about $20.3 billion from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the House of Representatives has asked the management of the NNPC to furnish it with records of withdrawals from the account.
The House Committee on Public Accounts investigating the alleged illegal withdrawal also directed the NNPC to furnish it with records of utilisation of such funds as well as all necessary approvals obtained for the withdrawal of the money which is part of the $21 billion accruing to the government as dividends from the NLNG.
The request is contained in a letter Ref. HR/PAC/SCO5/9NASS/QUE.9/974 dated December 7, 2020 signed by its Chairman, Hon. Oluwole Oke and addressed to the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, which was delivered and acknowledged on the December 10, 2020.
The NNPC holds 49 percent shares in the NLNG on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, with Shell, Total and Agip holding the balance of 51 percent.
The Sun says that the Federal Government has rejected advice by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to further devalue the Naira which the latter considers more than 18 per cent overvalued.
According to the IMF’s Article IV Report for the country published on Monday, the Bretton Wood Institution proposed a further mark down of the Naira in order to ease external imbalances weighing against Nigeria.
The report states: “President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration sees currency pressures stemming from global outflows caused by the coronavirus pandemic and believes another depreciation would add to double-digit inflation.
“The disagreement (with the IMF) underscores the policy challenges for the administration that has resisted growing calls from some businesses and state governors hurt by an artificially overvalued currency to liberalise the exchange rate.
It also conflicts with market expectations for further devaluation after the central bank cut the value of the Naira by nearly a quarter last year when oil prices collapsed during the pandemic.
The newspaper says that as the dust raised by the closure of cryptocurrency traders’ accounts is yet to settle, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has given its backing to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy.
According to its President, Aminu Gwadabe, the regulator acted fast to curtail an emerging dangerous trend capable of eroding Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) gains.
He said that before placing a ban on financial dealings that does not conform with the norm, the regulator should have gotten a financial intelligence on such operations, as seen in kidnappers now collecting Bitcoin for ransom.
Gwadabe said the new changing global behaviour towards cryptocurrency trading in Nigeria is not in tandem with Nigeria’s AML/CFT compliance structure as the country battled to move out of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sanctions list.
He said that cryptocurrency trading is so pervasive and widespread that every segment and all operators in the financial industry is becoming vulnerable to their operations that are not guided by regulation.
GIK/APA