PTF
Nigerian governors to meet Wednesday over financial autonomy for state legislature, judiciary
Governors of the 36 states are scheduled to hold a teleconference on Wednesday to deliberate on the executive order 10 which grants financial autonomy to the state legislature and judiciary. In a statement issued on Monday and signed by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, head of media and public affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), there will also be discussions on measures to prevent a third wave of COVID-19 infections in the country. Bello-Barkindo said the forum will take updates on the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability And Sustainability (SFTAS), among other issues. “The meeting, which is the 30th of its kind by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, commences at 2pm prompt but Governors are expected to start logging-in from 1pm,” he said. “The meeting will cover lessons for States ...
Boss Mustapha: Nationwide curfew not re-introduced
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee, (PSC) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, has clarified misrepresentation in the briefing of the PSC on Monday. Mustapha, who spoke to newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, said it was erroneously reported that the federal government had re-introduced nationwide curfew between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. as part of the COVID-19 safety protocols. He, however, said the announcement by the National Incident Manager, Dr. Mukhtar Mohammed, during the PSC press briefing was taken out of context because the federal government did not relax the curfew imposed earlier under Phase Three of the eased lockdown. Rather, he explained that what Mohammed said was that the federal government was maintaining the curfew und...
UAE waives extra coronavirus test for Nigerians
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has removed the rapid antigen test requirement for Nigerians travellers. This is according to a March 24 letter from the protocol department of the UAE ministry of foreign affairs seen by newsmen. The federal government had suspended Emirates Airlines after it announced an additional test requirement for Nigerian travellers in addition to the PCR test mandated by the presidential task force on COVID-19 (PTF). Agreeing to remove the test requirement, the UAE government demanded that the number of passengers on inbound flights to the UAE must not exceed 200 for two weeks. It also said only direct flights between the UAE and Nigeria are allowed. “Passengers need to present a valid negative PCR test conducted within 48 hours before boarding,”. “Provide the Embass...
MTN donates 300,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to Nigeria
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said it received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from MTN Nigeria. Speaking at the National briefing, the Chairman of the PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha said: “Yesterday, Sunday, March 21, 2021, the PTF received 300,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from MTN Nigeria. “This is acknowledged with thanks as we encourage other partners to contribute towards the fight against COVID-19.” Recall that the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had said that the first part of the 1.4 million doses promised to be donated to Nigeria would be delivered by end of February, while the remaining balance would be delivered by end of March, 2021. Mustapha also said: “The disclosure that Nigerian...
NSF: 8,000 athletes, others to undergo coronavirus protocols – minister
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, says the 20th National Sports Festival in Edo will go ahead as planned from April 2 to April 14 under strict COVID-19 protocols. Dare also said that the reduced 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games would go through all the necessary COVID-19 protocols. The minister’s Special Adviser (Media), John Joshua-Akanji, quoted him as giving the assurance on Friday in Benin after a facility tour of the venue and meeting with Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo. Dare said the camp for the festival would open on April 2 while the official opening of the Games would be done by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 6. He said that said that the ministry was working with relevant health stakeholders to ensure that the COVID-19 safety protocols were observ...
Minister: National Sports Festival will go ahead in April
The 20th National Sports Festival billed for Edo State will go ahead as planned from April 2 to April 14, Minister of Sports Development and Youth, Sunday Dare, said. Dare also said the 8,000 athletes and officials participating in the Games would go through all the necessary COVID-19 protocols. Dare spoke in Benin after a facility tour of the venue and meeting with Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo. Dare said the camp for the festival would open on April 2 while the official opening of the Games would be done by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 6. He said that said that the ministry was working with relevant health stakeholders to ensure that the COVID-19 safety protocols were observed. “We are working closely with the PTF, NCDC and others to ensure that the necessary support we need in terms...
Senate president receives first dose of coronavirus vaccine, calls for more sensitisation
The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, took the lead at the National Assembly on Tuesday when he received the first jab of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine was administered on him in his fourth floor office by his personal physician, Dr Muhammad Usman, while the vaccination card was presented to him by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe. Speaking shortly after receiving the jab, Lawan called for more advocacy and sensitization on the vaccine, appealing to Nigerians to make themselves available for the vaccination. He congratulated the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 for working so hard to ensure that the vaccine is available for Nigerians. While urging the PTF to get more of the vaccine and variety of it in ...
Nigeria threatens to ban flights from UAE, Netherlands
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has threatened to ban flights from the UAE and The Netherlands as a reciprocal action. The task force said the Ministry of Aviation and its relevant agencies have been mandated to take the necessary reciprocal measures as may be permissible under the laws and other international obligations expected to be discharged against Emirates airlines operating from the UAE and other airlines from The Netherlands. Mr Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, disclosed this at the routine briefing of the committee in Abuja on Monday. Mustapha said: “For over a month, Nigeria has been engaged with the authorities of the UAE and The Netherlands over pre-departure testing requirements passengers should meet before ...
Governors reach decisions on coronavirus vaccine roll-out
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has asked the federal government to take the necessary steps to support logistics and inoculation activities in states to ensure a smooth vaccine roll-out exercise across the country. According to a communique on Friday by Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, at the end of the 27th emergency teleconference meeting, the governors said efforts must be made to initiate the launch of the vaccination programme in all states from 10th March 2021. Kayode said the Forum received a briefing from the Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, in the company of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Tax Force (PTF) on COVID-19, ...
NCDC: Nigeria records 13 cases of UK coronavirus variant
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it has found six more cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in the country. This brings the total number of people who have tested positive to the variant in Nigeria to 13. The B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant was first detected in the United Kingdom and has since spread to other parts of the world. The Director-General of NCDC, Chikwe Iheakwazu, while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Monday, said the six new cases were detected in Lagos State by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. “Last week we detected six additional samples of the B.1.1.7 variants in Lagos state,” Mr Ihekweazu said. “We already have five c...
PTF: Nigeria has over 100 molecular laboratories
Nigeria can now boast of over 100 molecular laboratories for the testing of COVID-19 in the country, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF), Boss Mustapha, has said. This is just as the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, flayed the non challant attitude of people in his home state, Kwara, to the pandemic. The SGF who spoke Tuesday at the commissioning of State House Clinic Special Care Centre (COVID-19 Isolation Centre) stated that the number of molecular laboratories grew from two last year to more than 100 as at today and are spread across the 36 states of the federation. His words: ‘‘From just two molecular laboratories for the testing of COVID-19 in Nigeria, we now have over 100 molecular laboratories, public and private, across the 36 States of the Feder...
Senate faults PTF conversion to PSC, laments doctors strike
The Senate Committee on Health said on Thursday that the Presidency should have consulted the National Assembly before converting the the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to the Presidential Steering Committee. The panel also expressed surprise that the National Association of Resident Doctors embarked on strike despite the fact that their demands had been met by the Federal Government. Chairman of the Senate panel, Yahaya Oloriegbe, stated these during a public hearing on a bill seeking to establish a Federal Medical Centre in Mubi, Adamawa State. Oloriegbe said, “I was listening to the radio yesterday (Wednesday) and I heard that the PTF (on COVID-19) has been converted to a steering committee. “We were not consulted in terms of what will be the operational mechanism and so on. “I am ...