By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Abuja –
Governors of the 36 states will on June 10, 2020 hold their 10th teleconference meeting since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown.
The virtual meeting is scheduled to take place online starting from 2:00pm, according to a statement on Tuesday by Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, the Head of Media & Public Affairs at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Secretariat, Abuja.
This time around, the governors will receive memoranda from various groups, including a statement from the Nigeria Governors’Spouses’ Forum, headed by the wife of the Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, the statement said.
It added that the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum would be briefing the NGF on violence against women and children, as well as rape, which have become a matter of national emergency as the number of incidences continue to take front burner in the country.
The teleconference is to review the Covid-19 situation in the various states of the country and advance or evolve more pragmatic ways of dealing with the Pandemic, going forward.
An invitation from the Director-General of the NGF, Mr. Asishana Bayo Okauru to the governors, lists the issues to be discussed at the meeting to include an update on Executive Order 10, a brief from a sub-committee headed by Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, that was assigned to engage the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19, among other pressing national issues.
It further said that Governor Nasir el Rufai of Kaduna State will also present the report of his committee set up at the last NEC meeting in March 2020 to review the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the economy for endorsement.
The state governors will also take a peek into such issues as the World Bank Cares program, the public hearing on the NCDC Bill 2020, the progress made on the refunds to states on FAAC deductions, the restructuring of states’ loans by the CBN Governor Mr Godwin Emefiele and the reimbursements for construction of Federal Roads to states like Rivers, Bayelsa, Ondo, Osun, Cross Rivers etc.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has also been invited to brief the governors on the Police Trust Fund, just as the Women Affairs Minister Mrs Pauline Talen will interface with Governors on critical gender issues including rape and sexual violence in the country.
Also on the agenda is the a briefing on the CACOVID Distribution of palliatives and also a feedback from States.
The NGF is expected to get an update to see whether or not the palliatives have made any impact on the citizenry.
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