President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over the 24th virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC meeting at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja. Physically present at the meeting are Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika announced in a series of tweets that the Federal Government has given Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM approval to resume international flights into Nigeria. The tweet read, “We are working with the Ministry of Health, CACOVID, and The PTF to open Kano, Port Harcourt, and possibly Enugu airports before the end of the year. Also Lufthansa, Air France/KLM have been given go-ahead to resume. Qatar Airways is approved to start Abuja. Thank you for your patience.

President Muhammadu Buhari has on Thursday signed the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 into law. This was disclosed on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement titled “President Buhari assents to Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020”. Shehu said the new law repeals the extant Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991 as amended. The statement read in part “The BOFI Act 2020 updates the enabling law in response to developments and significant evolution in the financial sector over the last 2 decades.

Niger state government says the state government can no longer foot the salary bill of the state due to drop in federal allocation. The Governor said he has concluded plan to pay only 70% of workers salary across the board in this month of November, the move which labour has vowed to resist.

Nigerian farmers have yesterday protested against the idea of the federal government to re-open land border, claiming it is a dangerous idea at this moment when prices of food items are going high. They explained that is a known fact most of the neighbouring countries to Nigeria rely on this country for foodstuff, therefore, by implication opening the border would push the demand of food items up and by extension the price will sour.

The President had a virtual launch of the 5,000 barrels per day modular refinery and also the groundbreaking of a 45,000 barrel per day plant located in Imo State.  President Buhari commended an indigenous oil firm, Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Group, and also the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for the partnership, which was critical for the successful construction of the refinery.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has allayed fears of possible petrol scarcity brought to bear by ongoing disagreement between the Federal Government and oil workers under the auspices of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), over the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Dr. Kennie Obateru, NNPC spokesman, in a statement, on Tuesday, in Abuja assured that the industrial action would not lead to non-availability of petroleum products at fuel stations and depots.

In line with the determination of President Buhari to fulfil his promise of metering all Nigerian consumers of electricity and end estimated billing, free distribution of electricity meters will commence today abreast with the inauguration of the scheme in Eko, Ikeja, Kano and Kaduna electricity distribution companies. A source in the presidency who spoke o condition of anonymity stated that this free distribution would be carried out under the banner of ‘National Mass Metering Programme”.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Friday night confirmed 340 new cases of Coronavirus in Nigeria. Data by NCDC revealed that the latest cases were confirmed in 19 states across the country. Kaduna has the highest number with 63, followed by the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, with 51 and Plateau State with 33. States that made up Friday’s figure include Plateau-38, Lagos-33, Delta-25, Gombe-21, Adamawa-21, Edo-20, Katsina-17, Akwa Ibom-11, Ekiti-10, Rivers-9, Ondo-5, Ebonyi-4, Cross River-3, Ogun-3, Sokoto-2, Imo-2 and Nasarawa-2.