The Federal Executive Council, FEC on Wednesday approved N47.2bn to boost power supply in the country.

It will supply an additional 40 megawatts of power to the national grid, according to the Minister of Power, Mr Sale Mamman.

He told State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, which was held via video conferencing, that the 40 MW would be moved from the Kashimbilla Dam in Taraba State.

The minister stated, “The council approved the ministry’s memo for the revised estimated total cost for the augmentation of the subsisting contract in the sum of N4,235,303,821.90, to provide additional 40 megawatts, currently being generated from Kashimbilla, via Takum, Wukari and Yandev, to the national grid.”

He listed states in the North-East and Benue State as the beneficiaries of the 40MW when evacuated.

Mamman added that the country could lose up to 120 gigawatts of power supply or $9m in a year if the energy was not evacuated from the dam.

The FEC also approved a separate N683m for the Nigerian Ports Authority.

The money is for the procurement of 19 operational vehicles.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, who spoke on the approval, explained that it was the first time the NPA would buy vehicles in the last four years.

He said, “The council kindly approved the sum of N683,613,000 for the purchase of 19 vehicles for the NPA.

“This is the first time in four years that the NPA is buying any vehicle; that is why the council considered and approved it.

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“These are operational vehicles not for management staff or any other thing. They are all Toyota vehicles. “

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, said the reason the FEC was held via teleconferencing was the raging COVID-19.

However, he told reporters that the virtual option was picked to enable governance to continue to run.

Mohammed added that the e-option was also efficient as only ministers who had memos to present were required to be physically present.

He said, “It has been quite a while and I am sure you all know why. It is COVID-19.

“But, we must not allow COVID-19 to completely stop us; it might have slowed us down but we must find ways of coping with COVID-19.

“The task force and the various emergency response centres all over the country are doing their best to arrest and slow down the spread.

“The government also thought it was important to at least find a way of running governance. That is why we resorted to technology.

“After a long time, for the first time in the history of this country; if I can remember, a federal executive council meeting was held via teleconferencing, where only ministers who had memoranda to present were physically present at the villa.

“Other ministers joined from their various offices via teleconferencing. If this is anything to go by, it has even proven to be a very efficient way of running the government.”

Former Nigeria’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and ex-Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Desalegn Boshe, have warned that COVID-19 response should be focused on food security, agribusiness, and rural development.

Obasanjo & Boshe warned that the continent could be the worst hit from the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Obasanjo and Boshe estimated that 80 million Africans could be pushed into extreme poverty with the disruptions caused by COVID-19 on the food system.

The ex-African nations’ leaders gave the warning in a publication on the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s website on Thursday.

In the publication, which they co-authored, African countries were also cautioned against neglecting the rural poor.

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It said, “Africa has so far escaped the worst health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“However, the continent looks like it could be the worst hit from the economic fallout of the crisis: 80 million Africans could be pushed into extreme poverty if action is not taken.

And disruptions in food systems raise the prospect of more Africans falling into hunger.

“Rural people, many of whom work on small-scale farms, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the crisis.

“It is therefore vital that the COVID-19 response addresses food security and target the rural poor.

“Agriculture contributes 65 per cent of Africa’s employment and 75 per cent of its domestic trade.

“However, the rich potential of agriculture as a tool to promote food security and fight poverty is at risk from the effects of COVID-19.”

The publication also x-rayed the importance of agriculture on the African economy, adding that efforts must be made to prevent food shortage.

It added, “The effect of restrictive measures on food trade is especially worrying, in particular for food-importing countries, but also because of the shrinking export markets for the continent’s farmers.

“African governments have defined stimulus measures to mitigate national and regional economic impacts of COVID-19.

“As they do, they must remember that investments in agriculture can be up to five times more poverty-reducing than investments in other sectors.

“Small farms everywhere traditionally make a huge contribution to global food security.

“Around the world, small-farm dominated systems produce 50 per cent of all food calories on 30 per cent of the world’s agricultural land.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, however, the role of small-scale farms is even more significant: 80 per cent of farms are small in most of these countries.”

Data from the World Health Organisation showed that there are over 72,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent.

A breakdown of the data showed that the African continent has recorded more than 25,000 recoveries and 2,400 deaths as of 10.30 am on Thursday.