President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law two important bills passed by the National Assembly thereby making them become part of the Laws of the Federation.
The Climate Change Act owes its origin to a bill sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Sam Onuigbo, and provides for, among other things, the mainstreaming of climate change actions and the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change.
It also paves the way for environmental and economic accounting and a push for a net-zero emission deadline plan in the country.
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amendment) Act amends the AMCON Act No.4, 2010.
It provides for the extension of the tenor of the Resolution Cost Fund and grants access to the Special Tribunal established by the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 2020, which confers on the corporation the power “to take possession, manage, foreclose or sell, transfer, assign or otherwise deal with the asset or property used as security for eligible bank assets and related matters.’’
This, in effect, will help AMCON make recoveries and for debtors to fulfil their commitments to banks.
The president’s assent to the bills on Wednesday comes just before he received the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken at the State House in Abuja.
Blinken arrived at the presidential complex in a motorcade on Thursday and is expected to have a meeting with Buhari in his office.
The Nigerian leader and US top diplomat are also expected to discuss security issues facing Nigeria especially terrorism in the northern region.
Blinken will, after the meeting, head to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s office to sign some agreements between the US and Nigeria and also hold a joint press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, before leaving the State House.
The US diplomat is on a three-nation tour of Africa and had first visited Kenya where he called for a ceasefire in Ethiopia’s troubled region.
While in Nigeria, the US Secretary of State is expected to broadly address the COVID-19 pandemic and build back to a more inclusive global economy, combating the climate crisis, revitalizing democracies, and advancing peace and security.
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