Mr Paul Osu, Head, Public Affairs, DPR, told our reporter on Friday in Lagos that the bidding process has not been completed.

“The 2020 marginal oilfield bid round process is still ongoing in line with our published timelines on DPR website and bid portal.

“Over 600 companies have applied to be prequalified for the bid rounds which began on June 1.”

However, the DPR had put measures in place to ensure that the awardees would be credible investors with technical and financial capability.

“The objective of the 2020 marginal field bid round was to deepen the participation of indigenous companies in the upstream segment of the industry and provide opportunities for technical and financial partnerships for investors.”

According to Osu, the last time the country conducted marginal field bid rounds was in 2003 “with 16 of the fields now contributing two per cent to the national oil and gas reserves while bringing development to their host communities in the Niger Delta.”

It was reported that a marginal field is any field that has reserves booked and reported annually to the DPR and was unproductive for a period of over 10 years.

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Wilfred-Brown Chinedu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Smile Global Entertainment, made disclosure this to our reporter on Friday in Lagos.

Chinedu said that sponsorship became a problem as individuals and corporate organisations were not able to live up to their promises due to the economic situation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 which resulted in months of lockdown affected us in a very big way, to the extent that we had no choice other than to cancel the event.

“We used the first quarter of this year to prepare and approached a couple of organisations and individuals. They gave us their words, but suddenly Coronavirus came and twisted everything.

“And we cannot go against the COVID-19 precautionary measures put in place by the government, particularly social distancing, travel bans and crowd control because of the pandemic,” he said.

According to him, the event, a TV Reality Show, with the theme, “Stand Against Illicit Drug Abuse in Africa’’, aims to address rising cases of drug abuse and incessant rape in the country.

He noted that the event would have been a campaign ground for youths involved in indecent activities to get a reorientation toward turning a new leaf as leaders of tomorrow.

Chinedu regretted the development but expressed optimism that the event would hold in 2021 to further promote African culture, traditional dance and rebranding indigenous creative dance.

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The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was announced on Friday at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) in Oslo by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. There were 318 candidates, 211 individuals and 107 organisations for the nomination.

Our correspondent reports that the prize comes with a $1.1 million cash award and a gold medal which would be handed over at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10, 2020, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death.

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine and Literature.

It has been awarded annually since March 1901, to those who have “done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

This year’s ceremony to hand over the prize will be on a low key due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Rome-based WFP, the programme helps some 97 million people in about 88 countries each year, and one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.

On Thursday, American poet Louise Gluck won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature for her ‘’candid and uncompromising ‘’ works exploring family and childhood in an “unmistakable…voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”.

The chemistry prize on Wednesday went to scientists behind a powerful gene-editing tool.

Tuesday’s Nobel prize for physics honoured breakthroughs in understanding the mysteries of cosmic black holes and on Monday, the Nobel committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine for discovering the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus.

Next week, the prize for outstanding work in the field of economics will be awarded.

Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan is the youngest to have won the Nobel peace prize in 2014. She got the prize alongside Kailash Satyarthi of India for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.

Africans who have won the Nobel peace prize include Albert Lutuli, South Africa, (1960); Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, Egypt (1978); Desmond Tutu, South Africa, (1984); Nelson Mandela and Frederick Williem de Klerk, South Africa (1993) and Kofi Annan , Ghana (2001).

Others include Wangari Muta Maathai, Kenya (2004); Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt (2005); Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia (2011); Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (2015); Denis Mukwege, Democratic Republic of Congo (2018) and Abiy Ahmed of Ethopia in 2019.

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This is contained in the bank’s audited results presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The gross earnings represent an increase of four per cent when compared with N332 billion posted in the comparative period of 2019.

The bank also proposed an interim dividend of 30k per share for the period under review.

The group’s total deposits grew by 15 per cent to N4.9 trillion, from N4.3 trillion in December 2019.

This, the bank said, was driven by a 41 per cent increase in retail deposits from N1.1 trillion, to close at N1.6 trillion.

The result showed that non-interest income rose to N116 billion from N110 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2019.

Its earnings per share also increased by 17 per cent to N3.30 in H1 2020, from N2.83 in H1 2019.

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The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with our reporter on Wednesday, in Lagos.

According to him, the suspension of the exercise in the affected centres is to allow the board conduct a third party recruitment examination, scheduled for Jan. 16.

“The reason for the suspension of the exercise in the 243 centres nationwide by the board is that the centres are likely going to be used for third-party recruitment examination and we do not want to create any overcrowding.

“However, the registration exercise will resume again in those centres nationwide, on Jan. 17.

“The board regrets any inconvenience the suspension might have caused the candidates,” he said.

Benjamin added that the list of the affected centres was on the board’s website www.jamb.gov.ng.

It was reported that the registration of candidates for this year’s Computer- Based Test (CBT) commenced nationwide on Jan. 13.

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Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB Registrar, disclosed this while hosting State Commissioners of Education on Monday in Abuja.

Oloyede also said the registrations for its mock examinations would hold between Jan. 13 and Feb. 1, 2020 while the mock examinations would hold on Feb. 18, 2020.

He explained that the registration for the 2020 UTME and Direct Entry would also run simultaneously between Jan. 13 and Feb. 17, 2020.

According to him, the board is bringing in the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), as directed by the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council, to conduct the 2020 UTME.

He, therefore, urged prospective candidates to approach any NIMC enrollment centre to obtain the NIN to enable them register for the examinations.

“Everybody must rise up and support NIMC. We are also bringing in Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) to help in monitoring the Computer Based Centres (CBT).

“We also have the advantage of the Galaxy Backbone. Each of the CBT centres has been mapped with NIMC enrollment centres.

“Meanwhile, over 40 per cent of the candidates have already obtained their NIN.

“This will ease our job because those who have not been able to register can now be transported to NIMC centres at the point of registration,’’ the Jamb boss said.

The registrar also said the importance of a candidate registering with NIN was to eliminate multiple registration which was a problem during the 2019 registrations.

“Our experience last year showed that some candidates registered multiple times so as to perpetrate impersonation. We are aware that examination malpractices start at the point of registration.

“JAMB needs full collaborations of states education commissioners to help sensitise candidates in their various states on the need and importance of the NIN for 2020 registration.

“We have called you to inform you about our preparedness towards the conduct of the 2020 UTME and to pay attention to public examinations in your states and be conscious of proliferation of examination centres to perpetrate malpractices,’’ Oloyede said.

He explained that the board had put in place a Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) designed to prevent institutions from unilaterally changing or proposing a candidate for admission into the programme or courses other than his/her chosen course.

He explained that some institutions had devised a method of offering admission to candidates outside CAPS on their designated portals, saying any institution doing this was putting the future of such candidates into jeopardy.

He, therefore, said JAMB had mandated institutions to give preference to the candidates’ chosen courses.

On the news reverberated on social media of how one Miss Goodness Thomas who scored 302 was denied admission by the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Oloyede said she did not meet the merit score for admission for the chosen course.

Recall that the Thomas had applied to study Medicine but was instead given Human Anatomy by the university.

Oloyede said: “The university did well by offering her Human Anatomy. She came third from Niger and the university picked the first two candidates from her state so she did not meet the merit score for ABU’’.

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The Director General, NIMC, Mr Aliyu Aziz, gave the directive on Thursday in a statement signed by the General Manager Corporate Communications, Mr Abdulhamid Umar, in Abuja.

Aziz said that the aim of the exercise was to ensure that all applicants sitting for the 2020 UTME are provided with their National Identity Number (NIN) in line with the NIMC Act of 2007.

It was reported that the move is part of the collaboration between NIMC and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which had made the acquisition of NIN compulsory for applicants sitting for 2020 UTM Exammination.

“UTME and Direct Entry applicants are to be accorded special consideration in line with established Standard of the Enrollment processes that include capturing of the biometric and demographic data of any applicant before the issuance of the NIN.

”The exercise will also involve verifying the applicants at the point of UTME and Direct Entry registration.

”Where an applicant is below 16 years, such applicant will be required to provide the NIN of his/her Parent or Guardian.

”They must confirm that all information supplied to the enrollment officer on the applicant’s monitor in front of them at the point of registration is correct,” he said.

Aziz, therefore, advised parents and guardians to guide their wards in carefully filling the enrollment forms to ensure names and date of birth are registered correctly.

He also enjoined school authorities and local education secretaries to inform and educate parents and students on the importance of obtaining their National Identity Number.

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To achieve the target date, Lawan, during plenary mandated the Senate Committee on Appropriations, to submit its report on the 2020 Budget proposal on Nov. 26.

He said that the committee’s compliance with the presentation of its report on Nov. 26, would facilitate the passage of the 2020 Budget on Nov. 28, before the National Assembly would proceed on Christmas break.

He said: “On the Budget 2020 we are working on, the ball is now in the court of Senate Committee on Appropriations, the last committee standing.

“All the committees have done their work so well within the defined parameters and we, therefore, expect the Appropriations Committee to produce the report and lay it here by Nov. 26, the next two weeks.

“I believe that the same thing will be done in our sister chamber, the House of Representatives, so that we are able to pass the Appropriation Bill 2020 on the Nov. 28, by the Grace of God.”

Meanwhile, a total of 12 bills scaled first reading on the floor on Tuesday.

The bills are: National Religious Equity Commission (Est.) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Sen. Stella Oduah; Constituency Development Fund (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Ali Ndume and the National Agency for Technology Incubation (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Ajayi Boroffice.

Others are National War College Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Aliyu Wamakko; Compulsory Free Universal Education Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Rose Oko, and Private Security and Forensic Investigation Bureau of Nigeria (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Barinanda Mpigi.

Others include, Police Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Betty Apiafi; Federal University of Agriculture and Technology Funtua (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Bello Mandiya and Federal College of Education (Technical) Kaima, Kwara State (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Sadiq Umar.

Also, Federal University of Gashua (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi; Federal Medical Centre Dekina, by Sen. Jibrin Isah, and National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches (Est.) Bill, 2019, by Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi.

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Buhari, who addressed the joint session of NASS at about, 2.03p.m., unveiled a budget of N10.33 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year.

The Federal Executive Council had proposed N10.007 trillion for the financial year but the figure was increased to N10.33 trillion by the National Assembly.

The president said the 2020 budget was designed to be a budget of “Fiscal consolidation to strengthen our macroeconomic environment; Investing in critical infrastructure, human capital development and enabling institutions, especially in key job creating sectors.’’

He added that the budget was meant for “Incentivising private sector investment essential to complement the government’s development plans, policies and programmes; and enhancing our social investment programmes to further deepen their impact on those marginalised and most vulnerable Nigerians.”

According to him, the total Federal Government revenue in 2020 is N8.155trillion comprising oil revenue of N2.64 trillion, non-oil tax revenues of N1.81 trillion and other revenue of N3.7trillion.

“This is seven per cent higher than the 2019 comparative estimate of N7.594 trillion inclusive of the Government Owned Enterprises,’’ he said.

The president said non-debt recurrent expenditure include N3.6 trillion for personnel and pension costs, an increase of N620.28 over the 2019 fiscal year figure.

“This increase reflects the new minimum wage as well as our proposals to improve remuneration and welfare of our police and armed forces,’’ he said.

He disclosed that N2.46 trillion was earmarked for capital projects, inclusive of N318.06 billion in statutory transfers.

Other estimates are N556.7 billion for statutory transfers; N2.45 trillion for debt servicing and provision of N296 billion as sinking fund.

He explained that the sinking fund would be used to “retire maturing bonds to local contractors”.

The 2020 budget is based on an oil production estimate of 2.18 million barrels per day, oil price benchmark of 57 dollars per barrel and an exchange rate of N305 to a dollar.

Other benchmarks are: real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), growth rate of 2.93 per cent while inflation rate “is expected to remain slightly above single digits in 2020’’

On sectoral allocation, the president said the Ministry of Interior would get N35 billion as against N569 billion in 2019, Defence (N100 billion), Education (N48 billion) and Health (N46 billion) for some key spending

He noted with delight the continued recovery of the nation’s economy as well as the increase in the foreign reserve from 23 billion dollars in 2016 to N42.5 billion dollars in August.

“This increase is largely due to favourable prices of crude oil in the international market, minimal disruption of crude oil production given the stable security in the Niger Delta region and our import substitution drive, especially in key commodities,’’ he explained.

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Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this development at the end of an extraordinary meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The meeting which considered the 2020 budget proposals before its presentation to the National Assembly on Tuesday by 1.30pm, was presided over by President Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday. Adesina, who briefly spoke to State House correspondents, said: “No briefing, we only looked at what we will present at the National Assembly tomorrow”, referring to Tuesday’s presentation of the 2020 budget proposal to the NASS by President Buhari.

President Nuhari is expected to lay the 2020 budget before a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on Oct. 8 for approval, “as the country intends to revert to the January to December budget cycle.’’

It was reported that the early presentation of the 2020 budget is meant to return the Federal Government budget cycle from May-June to January-December.

The Senate had on Thursday increased the proposed 2020 budget from N10.007 billion to N10.729trillion.

However, President Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly had on Sunday night (Oct. 6) met behind closed doors at the President’s official residence in Abuja in what appeared to be `2020 budget reconciliation meeting’.

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