Governors To Meet Over Rape, NCDC Bill, Other Issues

Members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) will meet on Wednesday over the alarming rate of rape and other forms of sexual violence, among other critical issues in the country.

The Head of Media and Public Affairs at the NGF secretariat, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, announced this in a statement on Tuesday.

He noted that the meeting would be the 10th teleconference of the governors since the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

According to the statement, the governors will receive memoranda from various groups, including a statement from the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum headed by the wife of the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi.

Bello-Barkindo said the governors’ wives would brief the Forum on violence against women and children that have become a matter of national emergency.

He revealed that the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, has been invited to interface with the governors on critical gender issues, as well as the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to brief them on the Police Trust Fund.

The NGF secretariat spokesperson explained that the meeting would also review the COVID-19 situation in the various states and advance more pragmatic ways of dealing with the pandemic, going forward.

Other issues to be discussed at the meeting include an update on Executive Order 10, a brief from a subcommittee that was assigned to engage the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 headed by Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, among others.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is also expected to present the report of his committee set up in March at the last NEC meeting to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy for endorsement.

The statement said, “The state governors will also take a peek into such issues as the World Bank Cares programme, 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 River etc.

“Also on the agenda is a briefing on the CACOVID Distribution of palliatives and also 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.”