The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, has insisted that the new increment on electricity tariff would take off in July.

He stated this on Tuesday at the Investigative Public Hearing on Power Sector Recovery Plan and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic organised by the Senate Committee on Power.

Mamman said COVID-19 pandemic had affected the laid, out plan for the repositioning of the electricity market towards financial sustainability under the Power Sector Recovery Programme.

According to him, the regulator, following the completion of public consultation on tariff review, has initially planned to conduct a tariff review in April 2020.

However, he said due to the COVID-19 outbreak and customer apathy, the proposed tariff review was delayed by three months.

He said, “The impact of this means the subsidy being incurred in maintaining the current tariff level had to be maintained till July 2020 when the proposed tariff review will be implemented.

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“The challenge we are currently facing in the development and expansion of our transmission line is budget and release of Federal Government’s commitment in the estimated sum of N32bn primarily for the right of way acquisition and environmental impact mitigation.

“The fund should be provided for in 2020, 2021, and 2022 Appropriation of the Ministry of Power.”

Mamman also said the COVID-19 pandemic had had a great economic impact not just on the health sector but on the overall economy.

He said, “Indeed, the prevalence of the pandemic has already reduced productivity due to the strategy adopted globally to contain it.

“This by default affects the purchasing power of consumers and the demand for electricity in general.

“The current situation in the Nigerian power sector is that a lot of capital investment is being made, most of which is dependent on donor funding, loans and budgetary allocations.

“For projects that we have already secured their funding, we do not expect any adverse effect.”

“This explains our prayer for the distinguished senators to consider and approve additional funding for the execution of the various projects we are undertaking,” he said.

He added that the power sector was also grappling with the challenges of infrastructural misalignment, market inefficiency/transparency, sector governance/policy coordination, and completion of legacy projects.

The Abubakar Shekau faction of Boko Haram, Jama’atu Ahlussunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, has invited bandits to join them. The sect made the call in a new video.

The faction wooed armed groups terrorising the North West and North Central.

The regions have been under unabated attacks by bandits who kill, rape, injure the people, burn houses and rustle cattle, sheep, etc. The insurgents specifically urged outlaws in Zamfara and Niger States, to partner with Boko Haram.

The footage shows four masked men speaking in English, Hausa, Fulfulde and French, HumAngle reports.
One of them said “brothers in Lake Chad, my brothers in Cameroon, my brothers in Sambisa, my brothers in Niger State, my brothers in Zamfara State…to strive harder for the sake of Allah”.

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He said everything is done “is for the cause of Allah, and I encourage you to keep doing it. Strive harder, because Allah instructed us in the Holy Quran to strive harder for His cause.”

“You feel we kill. You feel we destroy. Allah has instructed us to kill everyone that is unbelieving,” Shekau declared.

He added that they were fine “and we hope you are also in a good state of health. We thank God who put us on this path, in this time, to promote His words and institute His law”.

The insurgent said his “second message” was to the people of Nigeria, Cameroon, and the whole world. We call you to join us to institute Sharia globally. When you come, we will accept you according to (Shari’ah) law, and we (will) worship Allah as He commands us.”

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Monday expressed serious reseration over the shopping sum of N186 billion reportedly expended on the Federal Government’s School feeding programme by the National Conditional Cash Transfer Office (NICTO) the coordinating office handling the project in the Presidency.

The Chairman of the Committee Hon Busayo Oluwole Oke and other members of the Committee while grilling the National Coordinator of the School Feeding Programme Dr Mrs Sinkaye Temitope and National Safety Net Coordinating Officer Mr Iowa Apera on the disbursement of the N64bn out of N186 billion said to have been so far spent on feeding the school pupils alone expressed displeasure over the development, describing it as outrageous and unacceptable.

Consequently, the Committee currently investigating the management and utilisation of the Presidential Task Force PTF on COVID-19 demanded a complete project audit of the programme immediately

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The lawmakers were enraged by a document submitted to the committee which showed that the NICTO office received a credit of $400 million from the World Bank, $321 million from Abacha Restitution and another $400 million said to be balanced from the government equity fund.

But the National Coordinator told the lawmakers that the feeding programme had been on-going since 2016 when the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs initiated it and had so far gulped N186 billion in totality.

She further told the committee that the budget breakdown showed that N63.2 billion, N32.2 billion and N124.4 billion were spent by the office in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Momah was visibly enraged as it was documented that 200,000 pupils from different families had benefited from it from Ihiala local council area of Anambra State which he refuted.

The Committee Chairman Rep.Oke who also administered an oath to the National Coordinator also said that the Committee would look at the documents submitted adding that the funds mighty not have passed through an appropriation by the parliament.