FG, Bankers’ Committee Begin Talks on Infrastructure Funding Nume Ekeghe The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and banks, under the aegis of the Bankers’ Committee, have begun talks with the federal government to finance four major roads across Nigeria.
The move, according to the Bankers’ Committee, would reduce Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit. The committee, which however, declined to disclose the projects they plan to finance, said yesterday in Lagos that the initiative would
be beneficial to Nigerians. Addressing journalists at the end of the committee’s meeting in Lagos, the Director, Banking Supervision at the apex bank, Mr. Hassan Bello, said: “The government has invited the committee of bankers to also consider the
possibility of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) in bridging the infrastructural gap and it is to that extent that the committee considered coming in to see how we can finance about four roads. “On the structure of the financing, the offer was just
made by government and the committee just discussed it and it is too early in the day to discuss how this structure is going to be. “The committee has already set up a small sub-committee to look at the modalities and also engage the government so
as to know the way forward.” Also speaking on the development, the Managing Director, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Mrs. Hamda Ambah, said: “We all agreed that government alone cannot Continued on page 9
Coronavirus: FG Orders Port Officers to Track Visibly Sick Travellers...
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President Reiterates Commitment to Leah Sharibu’s Freedom Says terrorists won't be allowed to divide Nigerians
Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday commemorated the second anniversary of the abduction of Leah Sharibu, the remaining Dapchi schoolgirl
in captivity, with a vow to ensure her release. The president said the federal government had redoubled its effort towards securing her freedom and the release of all those in Boko
Haram captivity. Sharibu was one of the 110 schoolgirls, aged between 11 and 19 years, kidnapped by Boko Haram from the Government Girls' Science and Technical College.
Dapchi, Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State, on February 19, 2018. Weeks after the kidnap, the other girls were released while Sharibu was kept in captivity by the terrorists for refusing
to renounce her faith. Six months later, an audio clip emerged in which the abducted schoolgirl pleaded with Buhari to help Sharibu regain freedom. In the clip, Sharibu also
sought help for her family and asked the government to treat her case with passion. Last year, Sharibu’s family and the Bring Back Our Girls Continued on page 9
Revealed: Buhari Empowered to Extend Service Chiefs’ Tenure HTACOS authorises president to delay retirements, irrespective of age Buhari can’t sack military top brass now, says SGF
Kingsley Nwezeh and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Contrary to claims by critics that President Muhammadu Buhari lacks power under the law to extend the tenure of service chiefs, the president is at liberty to delay the retirement of any military chief whose services are still needed. The Revised Armed Forces of Nigeria's Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service 2017 (HTACOS), a copy of which THISDAY obtained yesterday,
empowers the president to extend the tenure of the security chiefs, irrespective of age or length of service. In the wake of the rising wave of insecurity in the country, the president has come under pressure from many quarters, including the National Assembly, to replace the service chiefs. The service-chiefs-mustgo groups canvassed the arguments that replacing them would facilitate the formulation Continued on page 9
US Visa Ban on Nigerians Not Permanent, Says Ambassador... Page 8
IMPROVING EFCC'S EFFICIENCY... President Muhammadu Buhari (left), and Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, during the passing out of Detective Inspectors Course 5 in Kaduna...yesterday