After over four hours of deliberations at the emergency meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), a Committee was set up to meet the needs and demands of Nigerian youths behind the #EndSARS protests. The head of the Committee is Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

This information is contained in the circular issued by the National Economic Council and shared by Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant-Media & Publicity to the Vice President.

According to Akande, the Joint Committee was consequently set up by Osinbajo, SAN, to work with State governments represented by the Governors of Ebonyi, Ondo, Niger, Delta, Borno and the Sokoto States to implement the resolutions of the emergency meeting.

The National Executive Council during the meeting affirmed an unequivocal belief and assurance that most members of the nation’s security personnel are law-abiding and are capable of restoring law and order in the country.

After over 4 hours of deliberations:
 NEC SETS UP COMMITTEE TO ENGAGE YOUTHS, OTHERS ON EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL SAFETY NETS & NATIONAL UNITY

*COMMENDS NIGERIAN POLICE, SECURITY AGENCIES ON HANDLING OF DISTURBANCES IN SOME STATES

— Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) October 26, 2020

What you should know

The Joint Committee set-up by the NEC, to see to the implementation of the following frameworks and the given objectives:

• Framing of a new security and stability architecture for the country.

• A framework of engagement with the youths, civil society, and religious leaders, in a bid to promote national unity.

• A framework to engage with security agencies that will devolve more control to State governors who are the chief security officers of their states.

• A framework for the Federal Government to provide compensation for those who have incurred losses in the last few weeks.

• A social security framework for the youths and Nigerians to deal with the problem of unemployment and poverty in the country.

The Nigerian Senate has said that it will take Nigeria 40 years to fix irregular power supply.

This was disclosed by the Senate Committee on Power on Tuesday after the Minister of Power and his team made a presentation to the Committee, according to Guardian.

The four decades wait, according to the lawmakers, is due to underfunding and the Federal Government’s failure to fix the challenges of electricity generation.

The committee was astonished by the submission of the Minister of Power, Mamman Saleh, that of the N165billion required for capital projects in 2020, N4billion was given as bribe of which only N3billion was cash-backed.

In lieu of this, the Committee dismissed claims made by the minister over raising hope on early provision of constant power supply, while Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, painted a gloomy picture during the ministry’s budget defense.

A member of the Committee, Danjuma Goje, expressed concern that based on Abdulaziz’s presentation, N165billion was proposed, but the ministry gave N4billion in envelope, insisting that it would take 41 years to deliver constant electricity when N165billion is divided by N4billion.

Backstory

Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that it will take nothing less than $100 billion to enable stable power supply in Nigeria.

What they are saying

Mr. Danjuma expressed pessimism over hopes of stable power supply in the country. He went as far as stressing that even if ongoing projects are being completed there is still no hope for stable transmission of power in the country.

Mr. Danjuma was quoted as saying: “Going by the minister’s presentation that transmission gas increased from 5000 to 8000 megawatts, it is not enough. When dishing out figures, we should bear in mind that capacity, transmission, and distribution have increased and that Nigerians, manufacturers, and industrialists want to see stable electricity.”