26062020 - APC crisis: Why Buhari moved against Oshiomhole

8 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020
By Emma Ujah, Abuja
Bureau Chief
A
combination of collapse in
oil prices and the COVID-19
pandemic is expected to plunge the
country’s economy into a severe
recession, the worst since the 1980s,
according to the latest World Bank
Nigeria Development Update.
The World Bank in statement, titled
“Nigeria In Times of COVID-19: Laying
Foundations for a Strong Recovery,’’
estimated that Nigeria’s economy would
likely contract by 3.2% in 2020.
The International Monetary Fund
had on Wednesday projected a -5.4
percent growth for Nigeria in 2020 due
to the pandemic.
The projection in the World Bank report
assumed that the spread of COVID-19
in Nigeria would be contained by the
third quarter of 2020.
The report said: “If the spread of the
virus becomes more severe, the economy
could contract further. Before COVID-
19, the Nigerian economy was expected
to grow by 2.1% in 2020, which means
that the pandemic has led to a reduction
in growth by more than five percentage
points.
“The macro-economic impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic will likely be
significant, even if Nigeria manages to
contain the spread of the virus. Oil
represents more than 80% of Nigeria’s
exports, 30% of its banking-sector credit,
and 50% of the overall government
revenue.
“With the drop in oil prices,
government revenues are expected to
fall from an already low 8% of GDP in
2019 to a projected 5% in 2020. This
comes at a time when fiscal resources
are urgently needed to contain the
COVID-19 outbreak and stimulate the
economy.”
7m people to fall into
poverty
The report showed that the human
cost of COVID-19 could be high and that
beyond the loss of lives, the COVID-19
shock alone was projected to push about
five million more Nigerians into poverty
in 2020.
The bank said: “While before the
pandemic, the number of poor
Nigerians was expected to increase
by about two million, largely due to
population growth, the number
would now increase by seven
million, with a poverty rate projected
to rise from 40.1% in 2019 to 42.5%
in 2020.
“The pandemic is likely to
disproportionately affect the poorest and
Ghana pledges to restore Nigeria’s
diplomatic property to original state
ABUJA—THE
Ghanaian
government yesterday reiterated
its commitment to restore to its original
state the residential building of the
Nigerian High Commission in Ghana
that was demolished a few days ago,
following an attack.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that armed men had attacked the
mission on Friday night and demolished
the official residence of the High
Commission of Nigeria, which was under
construction.
Mrs Shirley Ayokor Botchewey,
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Regional Integration, disclosed this while
briefing journalists in Ghana on the
outcome of the investigation into the
attack.
She said: “The Land Commission will
formerly inform the Osu Traditional
Council that in August, 2000, offer was
made to High Commission of Nigeria,
irrespective of the title of land in question.
“The offer was accepted by the High
Commission and payment was made
accordingly that constituted a contract.
“The Land Commission will proceed to
issue a Land Certificate to the High
Commission of Nigeria, to regularise it’s
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Nigeria faces worst recession in four decades
— World Bank
most vulnerable, in particular women.
School closures have reduced the food
intake of almost seven million children
who are enrolled in the national school
feeding program.
“Economic activities have been
disrupted and women’s livelihoods have
been particularly impacted. Over 40% of
Nigerians employed in non-farm
enterprises reported a loss of income in
April-May 2020.
‘’In addition, the fall in remittances is
likely to affect household consumption
because half of Nigerians live in
remittance-receiving households, of
which about a third are poor.”
The report discussed policy options in
five critical areas that could help Nigeria
recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
‘’They were: containing the outbreak
and preparing for a more severe outbreak;
enhancing macroeconomic
management to boost investor
confidence; safeguarding and mobilizing
revenues; reprioritizing public spending
to protect critical development
expenditures and stimulate economic
activity; and protecting poor and
vulnerable communities.’’
Commenting on the report, the World
Bank Country Director for Nigeria,
Shubham Chaudhuri, said: “While the
long-term economic impact of the global
pandemic is uncertain, the effectiveness
of the government’s response is
important to determine the speed,
quality, and sustainability of Nigeria’s
economic recovery.
“Besides immediate efforts to contain
the spread of COVID-19 and stimulate
the economy, it will be even more urgent
to address bottlenecks that hinder the
productivity of the economy and job
creation.”
Similarly, the World Bank Lead
Economist for Nigeria and co-author of
the report, Marco Hernandez, said: “The
unprecedented crisis requires an equally
unprecedented policy response from the
entire Nigerian public sector, in
collaboration with the private sector, to
save lives, protect livelihoods, and lay
the foundations for a strong economic
recovery.”
The bank noted however, that the
government of Nigeria had already taken
important health, fiscal and monetary
measures to contain the outbreak,
moderate the recessionary pressures and
start mitigating the effects of the
economic shock.
ownership of the property in question.
“Ghana will take immediate steps to
engage the Osu stool and all
stakeholders on the impasse.
“Ghana will ensure that the
demolished building is restored to
its original state as soon as possible.
“The High Commission of Nigeria
will take appropriate steps to obtain
building permit for the
construction.”
She added that a committee
consisting of officials of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Ghana Police Service,
National Security, and the Lands
Commission had been constituted to
investigate the unlawful demolition of
the building.
According to her, based on preliminary
investigation, Nigeria paid for the land
20 years ago, even though the High
Commission could not produce the lease,
land title certificate and building permit
of the land.
She, however, gave an assurance that
the government of Ghana would
actively engage the Nigeria
government at the highest level, to
address the impasse and help calm
tensions in both countries.
•Says 7 million Nigerians to fall into poverty
•Calls for bold policies to save lives, livelihoods
PRESENTATION: Representative of the Chief of the Naval Staff/Chief of Policy and Plans
Naval headquarters, Rear Admiral Ifeola Mohammed (2nd left), receiving COVID-19
ventilators from Country Representative Messrs OCEA,Yemi Aluko (2nd right), General
Manager Messrs OCEA Tope Elijah (right), and other senior naval officers, during the
presentation of 20 COVID-19 ventilators at the Naval headquarters, in Abuja yesterday.
COVID-19: FG mulls another lockdown
•Condemns protocol violations by politicians
•Says Nigerians romancing with COVID-19
•Worried over resurgence in Europe, Brazil; 80% of Nigerian parents against
schools re-opening
By Chioma Obinna, Omeiza
Ajayi & Gabriel Olawale
ABUJA—THE
Federal
Government yesterday
condemned the serial violations of
COVID-19 safety protocols by politicians
preparing for the governorship elections
in Edo and Ondo states, saying this was
the time to declare a lockdown.
Chairman of the Presidential Task
Force, PTF, on COVID-19 and Secretary
to the Government of the Federation
SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha, stated this
Thursday in Abuja during the daily
briefing of the Task Force.
He said if he had his way, he would
declare another round of lockdown on
the country, urging politicians to devise
ingenuous ways of reaching the
electorate without breaching physical
distancing measures and the rule on
wearing facemask.
Meanwhile, as the increasing number
of COVID-19 cases continues to take its
toll on the nation’s health care system,
particularly as it relates to the number of
bed spaces, the government said it has
established Community Support
Centres in high burden local government
areas.
It also frowned on the use of face
shields as a replacement for face masks,
advising that shields should only be used
in addition to wearing masks and not as
a replacement.
While also expressing worry over what
appears a renewed wave of infections in
Europe, China and particularly Brazil,
which the government said shared a
lot of demographic similarities with
Nigeria, the government equally
added that the result of a perception
survey it recently carried out across
the country showed that 80 percent
of Nigerian parents were unwilling to
allow their wards resume school until
there was full guarantee that they would
not be exposed to danger.
It said by next week, it would announce
when the airspace would be reopened
for domestic flights.
On its part, the World Health
Organization WHO announced that
there are currently 220 vaccine
candidates undergoing development at
different stages.
Political violations
An obviously displeased Mustapha
said even as a politician, he has decided
not to attend any political rally, saying
Nigerians had become too casual with
the pandemic and that the time has come
to take drastic measures against it.
Mustapha said in every confirmed
case, Nigeria would have missed out on
at least five to seven other positive cases.
He said: “Gatherings are still not okay.
Any form of gatherings are still not okay.
Yes, I know it is an electioneering period
for some states in Nigeria and people will
begin to congregate but we must begin
to devise other means.
‘’Otherwise, the people who are
aspiring to lead these offices will end up
spending the entire budget of their states
in dealing with the problem they would
have created, if they become governors.
So, it is a very serious thing. I am a
politician and I have been in this
business for almost 40 years but I can
assure you that there is nothing that
will take me to any political rally. Nothing.
I will use other mechanisms of reaching
the electorate.
‘’But to congregate in a political rally?
For what? So, we have to be very careful.
The choice is ours. No one can make
that choice for you. The truth about it is
that efforts, scepticism and disregard will
not take us anywhere.
“If it were within my powers, this is the
time to lockdown. Lockdown might not
be a popular thing, but this is the time to
lockdown because we are already
romancing with COVID-19 and it is not
good. So, the message is that we should
continue to take personal responsibility.’’
Resurgence in cases
The SGF expressed concerns at the
epidemiological situation of some
countries where there is a second wave
of transmission.
He said: “You would have noticed that
the number of confirmed cases and
fatalities released in the last few days
have been on the high side. While we
attribute this to increased testing, it
also goes to confirm the extent of
the spread within our communities,
especially the 21 high burden LGAs
identified as accounting for over 60%
of infections nationwide.
“Closely related to the high number of
confirmed cases and fatalities at home
are lessons drawn from other
jurisdictions. From Europe to China to
the United States of America, the rising
numbers and reported resurgence in
some cases should also be of concern to
us.
‘’Of particular concern, however, is the
case of Brazil which has exceeded the
one million mark of confirmed cases. We
had informed you that Brazil shares
several cultural, demographic and
climatic affinities with us. If any lesson is
to be learned, Brazil should be a subject
of interest that will make us change our
behaviour.’’
According to Mustapha, the PTF has
noted and acknowledged progress being
made globally and domestically to search
for a cure for COVID-19, especially the
recent announcement that 4, 000 people
have volunteered for a vaccine trial in
the United Kingdom , adding that this
gives some room for greater hope.
“We similarly look forward to the
outcomes of validation processes for
submissions made by some Nigerian
scientists.
“I wish to inform you that by the end
of this week, the PTF would be submitting
a report containing our assessment and
recommendations to Mr. President. We,
therefore, urge Nigerians to await next
steps,” said the SGF.
Support Centres
In his remarks at the briefing, Minister
of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said
community transmission has now
overwhelmed the facilities for case
management.
Represented by the Minister of State,
Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, the
minister said: “The community
transmission has resulted in the high
number of confirmed cases with the
challenge that in some states, the
facilities for case management may
become overwhelmed.
‘’Bearing in mind the importance of
managing cases in facilities, the Federal
Ministry of Health through the National
Primary Health-care Development
Agency, NPHCDA, has developed a
guideline for the establishment of
Community Support Centres.’’