The Federal Government on Tuesday said the Bank of China and Sinosure, a Chinese export and credit insurance corporation, are to fund the $2.6bn Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline.

Two Chinese firms will also work along with their counterparts in Nigeria to execute the project, which was officially inaugurated virtually by the President on Tuesday.

Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau-CPP Consortia and Oilserve/China First Highway Engineering Company-CFHEC Consortia were announced as the Engineering Procurement and Construction contractors for the project.

Buhari said the pipeline would provide gas for the generation of power and for gas-based industries to facilitate the development of new industries.

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The National Assembly and electricity distribution companies have asked the Federal Government to subsidise electricity consumption.

The Discos on Monday told the National Assembly leadership that the only condition to halt tariff hike was for the Federal Government to bear the difference between the current tariff and the proposed one.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday insisted that the planned hike in electricity tariff in the country was not timely.

They said while they agreed on cost-reflective tariff, some measures such as proper metering must be put in place before such hike could be implemented

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to cost Nigeria and other oil exporters in Africa a total of about $34bn in revenue.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the projected decline in revenue is attributable to the dwindling global crude oil prices.

IMF’s Director, African Department, Abebe Selassie, disclosed this at the Africa Ministerial Roundtable on COVID-19 impact on the energy sector in Africa.

The fund noted that African governments would be under intense budget pressure and rise in debt burden, adding that such burden would be higher among oil exporting countries.

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The Federal Government has disclosed plans to force the Digital Satellite Television, owned by MultiChoice, a South Africa-based cable service provider, to provide pay-per-view options to Nigerian subscribers.

The government also said it has amended Nigeria’s broadcasting code to prevent DSTV from monopolising its channels and contents.

This is just as the House of Representatives ordered the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission to ask DSTV to reverse its subscription rates introduced on June 1, 2020.

The House has been probing DSTV for allegedly cheating its Nigerian subscribers by restricting them to prepaid plans.

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The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on Tuesday said the approval by the Federal Government for the resumption of domestic flights will only be given when it is safe to open the airports and airspace to commercial operations.

The NCAA also declared that private jets were not allowed to operate charter flight services because some private jet owners had been found to be violating this order.

The General Manager, Public Relations Department, NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said that although the Federal Government through the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 had given approval to resume domestic flights, the airspace would only be opened when it is safe.

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A total of N66 billion has been generated as stamp duty revenue by the Federal Government between January and June 2020.

The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services, Muhammad Nami, disclosed this during the inauguration of the inter-ministerial committee on audit and recovery of back years stamp duties.

Mr. Nami while giving a breakdown of the revenue added that the Finance Act has mandated the revenue agency as the sole body to receive stamp duties for the country.

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The leadership of the National Assembly has convinced the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in the country to defer the hike in electricity tariffs scheduled to take effect from July 1, 2020.

This is according to a statement on Monday by the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media, Ola Awoniyi.

He revealed that the lawmakers met with the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the DISCOs and succeeded in persuading them to postpone the planned increase of tariffs until the first quarter of 2021.

Awoniyi said the National Assembly leaders were emphatic that the timing of the planned hike was wrong, although they do not have issues with the need to introduce cost-reflective tariffs for the power sector to attract the much-needed investment.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria said it is stimulating local production in the agriculture business to enhance growth and boost employment in the country.

Some of the apex bank’s agribusiness initiatives are the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund, Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, and the Real Sector Support Facility, according to a statement.

The Director, Development Finance Department, CBN, Yila Yusuf, said the bank’s funding of the Anchor Borrowers Programme for the 2020 season was the highest since the inception of the programme in 2015.

A global culinary product manufacturing firm, GBFoods, said in a statement that it partnered with the CBN and some others recently to complete a N20bn tomato processing factory in Kebbi State.

According to the statement, the factory is the second largest in Nigeria, West Africa’s only fully backward integrated plant and has the largest single tomatoes farm in Nigeria.

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation targets to complete the $2.59bn Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project in 24 months.

It said the construction phase of the 40-inch by 614km pipeline project, which is being inaugurated virtually Tuesday by the President Muhammed Buhari would boost domestic gas utilisation.

The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru, said the project was a section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline with capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

NNPC said the the AKK pipeline would originate from Ajaokuta, in Kogi State and traverse Abuja, Niger, Kaduna and End at Kano.

It said the project would boost domestic utilisation of natural gas for Nigeria’s socio-economic development when completed.

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MTN Foundation says it has invested an estimated sum of N247m in anti-substance abuse campaign and impacted 13.5 million people.

The Foundation in a statement on Monday said it set up the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme in 2018 hinged on awareness, advocacy, information and resource dissemination to curb the prevalence of substance abuse and addiction in Nigeria.

The telecom company said it held a virtual event in collaboration with partners to commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare, while speaking at the event lamented the rising rate of substance abuse and advised on policies that could be implemented.

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