The condemnation of the assassination attempt on the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom, by armed herdsmen by state governors and other Nigerians dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Monday
The Guardian reports that the governors and other Nigerians, yesterday, denounced an assassination attempt on the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom. They vented their anger just as Ortom offered thanksgiving to God for surviving the attack.
While acknowledging the quick response of the Inspector General of Police by deploying a crack team of detectives to investigate the attack on him, the governor noted that the Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) had already claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt and should be arrested and questioned.
Ortom was ambushed by gunmen suspected to be Fulani bandits along Tyo-MU Makurdi/Gboko road on Saturday. He was allegedly attacked by over 15 gun-wielding herdsmen while inspecting his farm near Makurdi. He escaped death narrowly.
Confirming the incident, Ortom narrated how armed militia men, numbering about 15, advanced quickly towards his convoy with sophisticated weapons, but were repelled by his security details.
He said the men, dressed in black, had trailed his convoy from the farm, adding that he had to run for dear life, trekking 1km to safety, while his security details engaged the bandits, who escaped into nearby bush.
The Punch says that power distribution companies rejected a total of 5,452.96 megawatts of electricity in one week amid the outcry of blackout in various locations across the country by consumers.
Latest industry figures on the Discos load summary obtained from the Transmission Company of Nigeria in Abuja on Saturday showed that the power distributors rejected this quantum of electricity in the final week of February 2021.
An analysis of the report indicated that most power firms failed to utilise some quantum of electricity allocated to them by TCN under the Multi Year Tariff Order allocation from February 22 to 28, 2021. MYTO allocation is the daily national grid allocation to the power distribution companies.
The report also showed that although each of the 11 Discos had a maximum load (energy) nomination which they nominated for, there was a MYTO allocation for the power firms as approved by the industry.
It was, however, observed that the actual load consumption of most of power firms was less than the MYTO allocation that was approved by the industry, hence leading to a total of 5,452.96MW unutilised power within the one-week period.
The newspaper reports that Air Peace has said that it placed a firm order of Boeing 737 Max, which recently was recertified to resume operations.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Allen Onyema, who said this in a statement titled ‘Air Peace reaffirms its order of Boeing 737MAX’ also said that foreign exchange scarcity was inhibiting the ability of the airlines to meet their business obligations.
He said the company’s order of the advanced Boeing 737 Max aircraft subsisted and the timeline for delivery would be announced soon.
Onyema in the statement issued on Sunday said that the airline planned to replace the older aircraft in its fleet, made largely of B737 classics with the Boeing 737 MAX and the Embraer E195-E2 in addition to the eight E145, which provides service to low passenger traffic airports.
Onyema said currently, about 20 Air Peace aircraft were in maintenance facilities overseas and some of them were expected to start coming back soon, adding that what delayed the delivery of the aircraft was because of the COVID-19 lockdown, which forced maintenance facilities to stay off work.
The Nation says that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed N149.21 billion to 316,869 households to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds, which were given out in the first phase of the N150 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), were disbursed through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank after the beneficiaries met set guidelines for the intervention fund.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who broke the news at a media interactive programme in Lagos at the weekend, said the resounding success of the scheme and its positive impact on output growth, has prompted the apex bank to double the fund to N300 billion.
The second phase of N150 billion is to kickoff at yet to be announced date with each qualified household expected to access a maximum of N3 million at five to nine per cent interest rate depending on the loan purpose.
ThisDay reports that the nation’s media industry may soon overcome issues related to advertising debt and other business challenges as the federal government has directed the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), to implement key policies to guarantee the advertising income of media houses by creating a healthy environment for media outfits to operate.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known during the unveiling of the Digital Switch Over (DSO)/Analogue Switch Off timetable in Abuja recently.
The Minister in his speech said the government will also support channel owners and content providers through the implementation of the audience measurement system to guarantee a sustained stream of revenue from advertising for them to invest in the development of compelling content.
“Very soon, APCON and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, on zero advertising debts to ensure that revenue from advertising goes to the media owners,” he added.
The Sun says that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Duport Midstream Company Limited have concluded plans to deliver a 2,500 barrels per day(bpd) modular refinery in Egbokor, Edo State by quarter four of 2021.
The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, who visited the project site on Friday to assess the progress of work on the fabrication of the tank farms, civil works, pipeline installation and other site preparation works, confirmed that the project had reached 80 per cent completion.
He said the modules for the two Megawatts power plant and the control room were being fabricated and assembled in Lagos for delivery to the site.
The modular refinery is part of the Duport Energy Park conceived to include a 30 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing facility and a power plant. NCDMB’s partnership with the Duport Energy Park was approved in June 2020 by the Board’s Governing Council chaired by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.
GIK/APA