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EU makes U-turn on activating emergency Brexit clause with export controls
The European Commission on Friday said it was not triggering an emergency override clause in the Brexit deal relating to the sensitive Irish border with new restrictions on vaccine exports.
The European Union’s (EU) executive arm “will ensure that the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol is unaffected. The Commission is not triggering the safeguard clause,” it said in a written statement.
Hours earlier the announcement of new restrictions on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine exports from the European Union triggered backlash in Belfast, Dublin and London because of how they could have blocked exports to Northern Ireland.
In exchange for keeping Belfast aligned with EU customs rules, the protocol keeps goods flowing between EU state Ireland and Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, to avoid the creation of a hard border.
The final version of the full legal text setting up the tool will be published on Saturday, according to the commission.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused the bloc of triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol after the plan – intended to stop much-needed shots leaving the bloc amid a row over shortages – was presented to the public.
“(Johnson) expressed his grave concerns about the potential impact which the steps the EU has taken today on vaccine exports,” in a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“We agreed on the principle that there should not be restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies where they are fulfilling contractual responsibilities,” von der Leyen said in a tweet, calling the talks “constructive.”
“Welcome decision by the European Commission tonight not to invoke the safeguard clause of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol following constructive discussions with @vonderleyen,” Ireland Prime Minister Micheal Martin tweeted on Friday night.
“This is a positive development given the many challenges we face in tackling COVID-19.”
Earlier in the day, confusion broke out over the contents of the new regulation, which was reportedly briefly viewable on the commission’s website but is no longer accessible.
Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster was among those hitting out at the announced tool, calling it “an incredible act of hostility.”
“At the first opportunity the EU has placed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland,” the head of the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party wrote in a statement shared on Twitter.
Northern Ireland has remained largely aligned with EU customs rules precisely to avoid extensive checks at the Irish border.
However， EU export controls could hinder vaccines from being sent to Northern Ireland, which Foster says runs counter to the Brexit deal.
Senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official Mariangela Simao also condemned the scheme, saying it was not helpful at this stage of the pandemic.
“It’s a very worrying trend,” said Simao, an assistant WHO director general who is responsible for the world’s access to pharmaceutical products.
“We all need these vaccines to be shared equitably” among all countries, she added.
Simao also argued that that the free flow of vaccine ingredients and materials must be ensured, as making vaccines requires several countries in a series of production steps.
WHO officials warned that the world’s poorest countries stand to suffer the most if vaccines are being hoarded by wealthy countries.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus did not directly comment on the EU scheme but warned that the world should learn from the HIV/AIDS crisis and from the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009.
HIV medications arrived in developing countries almost a decade after patients in developed countries got them, and H1N1 vaccines reached developing countries only when the epidemic was over, Tedros said.
“Do we want to repeat the same history now? I don’t think so,” he said.
At this stage, rich countries should immunize their health staff and old citizens but should not go further down their priority list, Tedros said.
Rather, any shots that remain after the top-priority group has been inoculated should be given to poorer countries, which also need to protect their medical workers and elderly now.
“When a village is on fire, it makes no sense for a small group of people to hoard all the extinguishers to defend their own houses,” said Tedros.
“The fire will be put out faster if everyone has an extinguisher and works together,” he added.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday, approved the appointment of eight new Federal Permanent Secretaries.
The appointment was contained in a statement issued by the president’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale
He said the permanent secretaries were appointed to fill in existing and impending vacancies of some states and geo-political zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation.
According to Ngelale, they were appointed after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The new Permanent Secretaries are, Dr. Emanso Umobong Okop – Akwa-Ibom, Obi Emeka Vitalis – Anambra, Mahmood Fatima Sugra Tabi’a – Bauchi, Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi – Jigawa, Olusanya Olubunmi – Ondo, Keshinro Maryam Ismaila – Zamfara, Akujobi Chinyere Ijeoma (South-East), Isokpunwu Christopher Osaruwanmwen (South-South).
“The President anticipates that the new Federal Permanent Secretaries will exercise absolute dedication, diligence, and fidelity to the nation in the discharge of their functions and ensure optimum service delivery to the Nigerian people”, the statement added.
Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi says the choice of the state as a special agro-industrial processing zone by the Federal Government is a step in right direction.
Ododo said this when he hosted a delegation from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on Friday in Lokoja.
He explained that his administration was ready to meet all requirements for the establishment of a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in the state.
The project ,which is an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Kogi government, is expected to attract significant foreign and domestic private sector investment into the state.
The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone is expected to process maize, cassava, rice, palm oil, cashew, sugarcane and fish, in line with the commitment of Gov Ododo to transform Kogi into an agro-industrial hub.
The governor said: “We have already allocated 254 hectares of land in Ukpake, AjaoKuta Local Government Area for the purpose of the special agro-industrial processing zone.
“Our decision to establish the agro-industrial processing zone in Ukpake was due to its strategic location and proximity to essential resources such as water supply, electricity, gas, a railway line linking Kogi and a number of states and the proposed international cargo airport in Adogo ,which is a few kilometers from the proposed site of the agro-industrial facility.
“We wish to assure you that Kogi government will do everything possible to provide the enabling environment for the selection of the state for the phase II of the project and its eventual take off.
“This is because it is in line with my administration’s policy on industrialisation and the strong will to guarantee food security in the state through investment in agriculture.
“We are also aware that such investment in agricultural value chain will increase productivity, provide access to market for farmers and provide job opportunities for the teeming population of the state.”
Ododo commended the African Development Bank for the initiative, which he said would enhance job creation and guarantee food security in Kogi and Nigeria ,at large.
In his remarks, Dr. Bashir Ibrahim-Gaya, who led the AfDB delegation, said the assessment tour was intended to verify the readiness of states to be selected in the phase II for the establishment of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.
Ibrahim-Gaya explained that the SAPZs were being implemented in 18 countries across Africa, including Nigeria.
According to him, the phase I in Nigeria, covering seven states ,including the Federal Capital Territory, has commenced.
“Our team is here in Kogi to assess the state’s readiness as a possible beneficiary in the phase II of the project, ” he said.
In their separate remarks, the State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Ashiru Idris and Commissioner for Agriculture,Mr Timothy Ojomah, assured of the political will by the state government to see to the realisation of the project in the state.
Ojomah said the proposed agro-industrial processing facility would be supported by adequate and reliable supply of raw materials and semi-processed agricultural produce from the state Agricultural Transformation Centres in Alape, Anyigba and Osara.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government (FG) to grant its demands for better welfare and administrative conditions in public universities.
The union made the request on Friday at a news conference held at the Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu.
The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU Calabar Zone, Mrs Happiness Uduk, said that the only way to avert the imminent nationwide strike was for the State and Federal Governments to meet the union’s demands.
Uduk said that the body had given a two-week ultimatum for its demands to be met, warning that failure to do so would result in an industrial action.
She regretted that the FG had yet to fulfill its commitments under the FG-ASUU agreement in 2009, leading to stagnation in salary scales and overall welfare improvements.
She said: “Government had an agreement with ASUU in 2009, which tells us that for 15 years running, ASUU members have been on the same salary scale, nothing has changed.
“We are requesting that government should complete negotiations it started with us more than 13 years ago, first with the Babalakin-led team, then the Munzali-led team, finally the Briggs-led team.
“These people had completed the negotiations and, if the negotiations had been completed and Mr President has the document, we don’t know why for a year now he has not called us to talk to us about it.
“So, government should as a matter of urgency address our renegotiation and take into account current realities, including inflation rate, exchange rate and whatever needs to go into that,” Uduk said.
She called on the Federal and State Governments to address issues bordering on revitalisation fund for public universities, payment of earned academic allowances and withheld salaries, high taxation and victimisation of ASUU members
She also said that ASUU strongly insisted on the removal of its members in federal universities from the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS).
Uduk further said that the high rate of taxation experienced by ASUU members was a result of “the introduction of an obnoxious platform” for salary payment.
“Whatever government has in mind with regards to that, it should use our University Transparency and Accountability Solution or any other platform that would originate from universities rather than the IPPIS,” she said.
She advised that the FG’s students loan scheme be replaced with grants which, she said, would alleviate financial stress on students and improve their academic pursuit.
Uduk called on the FG to stop the proliferation of universities and focus on better funding for the existing ones to improve overall standards within the existing institutions.
She also advocated for the quick resolution of the minimum wage debacle and introduction of a living wage that obtains in saner climes.
On Abia, the ASUU zonal coordinator called on the Abia Government to pay the 11 months salary arrears owed to lecturers in ABSU.
“We are not negotiating any part of that salary for anything because we have worked, taught students and examined them and some of them have graduated,” Uduk said.
She urged the Abia Government to discontinue the use of Treasury Single Account in the payment of ABSU lecturers’ salaries and address the recent inconsistency in the payment of salaries.
According to her, Government is owing April, May and June.
“Let the Abia Government leave payment in the hands of the university administrators and a platform that is consistent with the institution’s operations.
“But it can do its oversight as far as ABSU is concerned,” she said.
Uduk said that some ASUU members at the Ebonyi State University had been suspended for more than two years without salary.
“We call on the Ebonyi governor to look into the peculiarities of the problems in the state university and ensure that our members are reinstated forthwith,” she said.
Uduk said that the ongoing interface with stakeholders was to encourage Nigerians to appeal to the government to do the needful, “otherwise, in two weeks time ASUU will go on strike”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the union had earlier held an interactive session with critical stakeholders, parents, children and traditional rulers, amongst others.
Tinubu appoints eight new Permanent Secretaries
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