The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continue to record significant increase as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 29,286 confirmed cases.

On the 6th of July 2020, 575 new confirmed cases and 9 deaths were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 1,831 samples across the country.

To date, 29,286 cases have been confirmed, 11,828 cases have been discharged and 654 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 152,952 tests have been carried out as of July 6th, 2020 compared to 151,121 tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 6th July 2020

• Total Number of Cases – 29,286
• Total Number Discharged – 11,828
• Total Deaths – 654
• Total Tests Carried out – 152,952

According to the NCDC, the 575 new cases were reported from 20 states- Lagos (123), FCT (100), Delta (58), Edo (52), Ogun (42), Katsina (24), Bayelsa (23), Rivers (22), Borno (19), Plateau (18), Ondo (18), Oyo (17), Kwara (15), Osun (13), Enugu (9), Nasarawa  (7), Abia (6), Cross River (5), Kaduna (3), Ekiti (1).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 11,367, followed by Abuja (2,281), Oyo (1,530), Edo (1,435), Delta (1,285), Kano (1,268), Rivers (1,205), Ogun (1,047),  Kaduna (868), Katsina (628), Borno (547), Gombe (520), Bauchi (516), Ebonyi (503), Ondo (474), Plateau (454), Abia (391), Enugu (381), Imo (352), Jigawa (318).

Kwara state has recorded 284 cases, Bayelsa (268), Nasarawa (232), Osun (178), Sokoto (153),  Niger (122), Akwa Ibom (112), Adamawa (99), Benue (97), Kebbi (84), Zamfara (76), Anambra (73), Yobe (61), Ekiti (45), Taraba (22), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government

Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020.

READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous

The Federal Government has announced plans to shut down the Third Mainland Bridge for maintenance work from July 24, 2020. 

This was disclosed by the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, during an interaction with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday July 6, 2020. 

In the conversation, Popoola said that consultations were on for another phase of repair works to commence on the Third Mainland Bridge. He told the News Agency of Nigeria that the consultations were towards developing a perfect traffic management architecture that will be very efficient and effective. 

According to Popoola, “We want to do maintenance work on Third Mainland Bridge very soon. Most likely on the 24th. We may close it from 24th of July.’’ 

READ ALSO: Update: FG increases fuel price to N143.80 per litre

“We are still working out the modalities and when we perfect the traffic management plan we will move to site. Everything being expected for the repairs of the bridge arrived the country that is why we want to start the repairs now,’’ 

The 11.8km bridge which has gone through series of rehabilitation works was last closed for repairs in August 2018 for 3 days of investigative maintenance check. 

Thereafter, some components needed for completion of repairs were sourced abroad because they were not available locally. 

Meanwhile, a monitored report from Channels suggests that the closure might last for a period of 6 months.

READ ALSO: Nigeria to raise N163.32 billion through road concessions programme

There has been reports of some worn-out joints of the bridge, which has raised some serious safety concerns for the users of the bridge. The federal government will be working with the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) on how best traffic during this period. 

The Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland. 

The bridge starts from Oworonshoki which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island. 

It was opened for use 1990 and was the longest in Africa until 1996 when The 6th October Bridge in Cairo was completed. 

The world’s four biggest audit firms —KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte — have been directed by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to plan towards separating their audit services from their consulting services.

The deadline for compliance with this directive is June 2024.

A statement that was published on the FRC website said this directive is ‘world-leading’. The statement also explained why it became imperative to separate the firms’ operations towards ensuring that they deliver the uttermost quality audit services for the good of public interest.

By the time the operational separation officially takes effect starting from June 2024, FRC said it would be expecting the following outcomes:

• That audit practice governance would prioritise audit quality and protect auditors from influences from the rest of the firm that may try to divert their focus away from audit quality.
• That the total amount of profits distributed to the partners in the audit practice does not persistently exceed the contribution to profits of the audit practice.
• The culture of the audit practice prioritises high-quality audit by encouraging ethical behaviour, openness, teamwork, challenge and professional scepticism/judgement.
• Auditors act in the public interest and work for the benefit of shareholders of audited entities and wider society.

While commenting on this development, FRC’s Chief Executive Officer, Sir Jon Thompson, said the FRC is committed to reforms on how corporate finances are reported. Further aspects of the reform package will be introduced over time, he said.

“Operational separation of audit practices is one element of the FRC’s strategy to improve the quality and effectiveness of corporate reporting and audit in the United Kingdom following the Kingman, CMA and Brydon reviews. Today the FRC has delivered a major step in the reform of the audit sector by setting principles for operational separation of audit practices from the rest of the firm. The FRC remains fully committed to the broad suite of reform measures on corporate reporting and audit reform and will introduce further aspects of the reform package over time,” Thompson stated.

Do note that the FRC reached this decision after engaging in extensive discussions with the Big Four. It was also agreed that the audit firms will submit an implementation plan to the FRC latest by October 23rd, 2020.

Recall that it was just last week when Nairametrics reported how the Big Four earned the sum of N7.53 billion as audit fees from Nigeria’s most capitalized firms in 2019. Interestingly, these firms now reportedly generate the largest portions of their revenues from consultancy services. As a matter of fact, only about 20% of their revenues now come from auditing fees.