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Tag: Fed Govt

  • Wanted persons smuggled out with private jets, says Fed Govt

    Wanted persons smuggled out with private jets, says Fed Govt

    Wanted persons are being smuggled out of the country with private jets, the Federal Government has said.

    Some private jet owners also indulge in illegal charter services, depriving government agencies of N25 billion annually, it was learnt.

    The Coordinating Manager of Information and Communications for Aviation Parastatals and General Manager, Corporate Communications of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati , made these claims in a statement at the weekend.

    Dati said security operatives have found that many wanted persons escaped through private jets.

    He said others who should not be in the country had also been in with private jets, adding this is easy because many private jets take off from private facilities at the airports.

    He noted that illegal consignments, including cash and personalities that may constitute security threat may be airlifted in and out of the country with private jets.

    Dati said the government was determined to check the abuse of private jets, adding that for security reasons, pilots flying private jets must declare the manifest of each flight.

    He said, henceforth, government would monitor the operation of unscheduled flights to check security breaches.

    Dati said charter services by private jets had become lucrative business because 80 per cent of these jets have private licence, but carry out commercial operation, thus constituting safety challenges since they are not subjected to compulsory maintenance checks by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

    He said about 80 per cent of the 150 private jets in the country were registered overseas, which means that they are exempted from paying taxes and five per cent charges to the NCAA.

    Dati added that although the jets are owned by Nigerians, they are designated as leased to avoid Customs duty.

    He said: “So when you collate what government agencies lose by the illegal operations of these aircraft it amounts to over N25 billion in a year. And I can authoritatively tell you that it is now a lucrative business that businessmen bring in aircraft to operate as private jets while they are actually used for commercial purposes, so it makes nonsense of those charter operators who followed the laid down process, whose business has now been taken away by the illegal private operators.”

    These illegal charter operators, he said, had taken away substantial business from scheduled airlines because those that would have filled the business class cabin are now airlifted by illegal private charter services.

    Dati said: “This explains why our airlines are not growing. Instead of marked growth of our airlines, it is the number of private jets that is growing. This is an aberration. So, government cannot fold its hands and watch this unfavourable situation, which has already started affecting the nation’s economy, knowing the crucial role scheduled airline operation play in any country.”

    He said the money used to buy these aircraft were made locally but taken away from the country to maintain foreign licence, foreign pilots, engineers and maintenance services.

  • Fed Govt to youths: stop kidnapping expatriates

    The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, at the weekend appealed to Niger Delta youths to stop kidnapping expatriates working in the region.

    The minister made the appeal after inaugurating the construction of the Okoso Bridge, Section II of the East West Road.

    Since the beginning of work, about 11 construction workers have been kidnapped.

    The recent was the abduction of two workers, which made the construction firm to stop work until the intervention of the Federal Government.

    The Okoso Bridge, which is being built by Setraco International Holding Group, is a critical part of the dualised East-West Road project.

    The minister expressed his concern over the consequences of continuous kidnap of expatriates from construction sites, saying that for development to occur, there must be peace and security.

    He also pleaded with the youth that they must not allow the opportunity of infrastructural and economic development pass the region by.

    The minister also urged monarchs, parents and religious groups to talk to the youth to give room for development by cooperating with the contractors.

    ‘We need to start discouraging this act and stop blaming neglect and absence of infrastructural development in the region on the government.

    “It sends wrong signals of undermining development to foreigners. We are only hoping that some reasoning will get into the head of our young men who are into these criminal activities, to stop so that the development we said we need will come to us.

    “As you can see, we have a lot of solders here and this is the condition with which these people are working.

    “That is why you have the CEO present here after several appeals. The initial date scheduled for inaugurating the bridge was delayed due to the insecurity.

    “We should allow contractors to work and that is the only way we can get the development we are talking about.

    “That is the appeal we are making. Mr. President has promised that this road will be delivered to the people by December next year.”

    The Chief Executive Officer of Setraco, Said Kalaf, said 11 of his workers have been kidnapped since work began on the road in 2009.

    “Our workers’ morale is low and we are doing our best. The kidnap and killing of our expatriate workers have broken the company’s back bone.

    “We are here to develop the area and we are hoping they will allow us to do that,” he said.

  • Fed Govt begs North’s leaders to get Boko Haram

    Fed Govt begs North’s leaders to get Boko Haram

    Undeterred by Boko Haram’s rejection of its amnesty offer, the Federal Government is reaching out to some elders and Islamic clerics in Borno, Yobe and Kano states to prevail on Boko Haram to embrace the proposal.

    The government is also considering talks with some Boko Haram leader in detention to facilitate contact with the sect.

    The options came even as the Northern Youth Forum (NYF) urged the sect to embrace the planned amnesty.

    Also at the weekend Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda expressed optimism that the sect would embrace dialogue and accept amnesty.

    Besides, Yuguda’s counterparts in Borno (Kashim Shettima), Yobe (Ibrahim Gaidam) and Kano (Rabiu Kwankwaso) have begun moves to restore peace to the North.

    The Federal Government’s challenge is how to reach out to the sect’s leader, Imam Abubakar Shekau.

    The government, it was learnt, is already seeking the help of some elders and clerics in Borno, Yobe and Kano.

    A source said: “These leaders and clerics are not members of the sect but they are respected by Boko Haram. They also know how they get in touch with them. The mandate given to these leaders and clerics is based on why the amnesty should be in place.

    “I won’t give you the names of these intermediary leaders to avoid scuttling the process. But we believe that once amnesty is in place, the sect’s leaders will have the freedom to come out for dialogue.”

    Asked why the government is going to this length, the source replied: “The rejection of amnesty offer by Boko Haram is suspected to be politically motivated. We are, therefore, trying to give it a political solution by enlisting the right people to assist in persuading Boko Haram.”

    A source said locating Shekau remained the main issue.

    He added: “It has been difficult to locate the whereabouts of Shekau since the operation in Mali made the sect leaders to adopt a make-shift lifestyle.

    “No one can say whether they are in Nigeria or Mali or any of the neighboring countries.

    “This is why the government is adamant on a proclamation of amnesty in order to serve as a guarantee that the sect’s leaders are protected from harassment if they come out for dialogue.”

    Shettima is believed to have reached out to some of the detained leaders and members of Boko Haram. The governor’s talks with the sect were still ongoing as at press time last night.

    The governor is said to have visited sect members in detention at Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri. He also visited some detainees at the Police Crack Team.

    “At the detention camps, he was not too pleased with the condition of some of the detainees and he made money available to buy blankets and basic provisions for them. He had one-on-one interaction with many of the sect leaders and members on the way out,” a source said, adding that the governor persuaded some of them to assist the government in resolving the logjam.

    “Already, this idea is being sold to the Federal Government to adopt. The proposed amnesty committee should meet these high-profile detainees and build confidence in them to enable them to reach out to Boko Haram leaders to have faith in the amnesty programme,” said the source.

    The NYF appeal was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its bi-monthly meeting which ended at the weekend in Gombe.

    The Forum also praised the government on the proposed amnesty, believing it would restore lasting peace and stability to the North.

    It, therefore, “urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders (Northern Elders Forum) to involve the youths in the process of the amnesty programme”.

    The Forum ascribed the security challenge bedeviling the country to poverty, unemployment, lack of proper educational policies and loss of moral values in the society.

    Yuguda is confident that Boko Haram members would accept amnesty and embrace dialogue.

    Yuguda drew a line between the “real Boko Haram” protesting against poverty and misery and the “political and criminal Boko Haram”, which is a tool in the hands of “desperate, “unscrupulous and “unpatriotic” politicians to destabilise the country.

    The governor acknowledged that poverty, unemployment and lack of social infrastructure may have instigated anger on some elements in the North. But he disagreed with those fuelling the violence for political reasons, stressing that these agents of violence are “criminals, armed robbers and killer Boko Haram”.

    Yuguda spoke with reporters at the weekend on the state of the nation in Lagos.

    The governor denied the allegation that he was interested in the Vice Presidency in 2015. He pledged his loyalty to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Vice President Namadi Sambo.

    If the Northern Speakers’ Forum (NSF) has its way, all 19 governors in the North would be included in the amnesty committee raised by the federal government to to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The Forum rose from a conference of the 19 Northern Speakers in Minna, the Niger State capital and commended the government on the steps it took towards negotiating and possible acceptance of the amnesty.

    In a communiqué signed by Mr. Stephen Onmeje, the speakers urged the various state governments, elders and traditional rulers from the region to ensure that peace return to the region in the overall interest of North’s development.

  • Fed Govt to support Olubadan’s 100th year

    Fed Govt to support Olubadan’s 100th year

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday congratulated the Olubadanof Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade, on his 99th birthday.

    In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan said: “On behalf of myself, my family, the Federal Government and Nigerians, I wish the Olubadan a happy birthday celebration.

    “Oba Odulana has used his immense experience, knowledge and wisdom for the benefit of his people since he assumed the ancient throne. May God Almighty, who has already blessed the Olubadan with such extraordinary longevity, grant him many more years of good health and commendable service to his community and the nation.

    “I join the people of Ibadan and the Olubadan’s friends and well-wishers across the country in looking forward with great anticipation to Oba Odulana’s historic attainment of the age of 100 years next year.

    “I assure Oba Odugade and the people of Ibadan of the Federal Government’s support for the celebration planned to commemorate the landmark occasion, which fortuitously coincides with Nigeria’s centenary year celebration.”

    Also yesterday, the call for the creation of Ibadan State out of the present Oyo State returned to the front burner. The Bishop of Oke Ogun Anglican Diocese, Rev. Solomon Amusan urged the people to remain committed to the demand.

    Rev. Amusan urged the people to build a new palace in honour of Oba Odugade.

    He spoke at the Oba’s Monatan Palace at the thanksgiving service marking the Oba’s 99th birthday.

    The cleric said the people have a lot to do to ensure the creation of Ibadan State.

    He said: “I urge sons and daughters of Ibadan to take the struggle for the creation of Ibadan State seriously. The creation of Ibadan State is long overdue and we should do all within our capacity to bring it to reality.

    “The people of Ibadan should rally round to build a befitting palace for the Olubadan. This will be a great mark of honour. Those of us who know what the Olubadan has passed through and what he stood for, know that the fact that he is alive at 99 is the grace of God.

    “The Olubadan is a straightforward, disciplined, honest and trustworthy person. He is a man of extreme immunity and a student of the Bible.”

    The Bishop of Ibadan Diocese Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Segun Okubadejo, who prayed for the monarch and Ibadanland, said Ibadan has witnessed remarkable development under Oba Odugade.

    Dignitaries at the occasion included Bishop Wale Oke of the Sword of Spirit Ministry; Right Rev Amusan, the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao; Chief Lekan Balogun; Chief Eddy Oyewole; Chief Lekan Alabi; Chief Tunde Aboderin; Olubadan’s children; Prof. Lana and Mrs. Sade Bankole.

    The Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) presented the 99th anniversary cake and gifts to the Oba Odugade.

  • Bakassi: Fed Govt to get report from panel this month

    VICE-President Namadi Sambo has urged the Presidential Committee on Bakassi and the Right of the Displaced People to submit its report before the end of this month.

    Sambo spoke yesterday in Abuja at a meeting with members of the committee.

    The Vice-President said all Bakassi-related matters must be concluded before August, adding that the relocation of the displaced persons should be urgently addressed.

    “There must be a final report by the end of this month, taking into consideration the interest of the people of Bakassi,” he said.

    The committee’s recommendations, he said, should also include the time-frame to guide the government on what to do. The committee has four months to complete its assignment.

    The Vice-President assured the committee members that funds would be made available to them to discharge their duties effectively.

    Cross River State Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Presidential Committee, Efiok Cobham, hailed the government for alleviating the plight of Bakassi residents.

    He said there was need for the committee’s members to carry out an on-the-spot-assessment of the proposed settlement of the dislodged people.

    The committee chairman condemned the Cameroun Gendarmes for evicting about 2,000 Nigerians from the disputed peninsula.

    Cross River State, he said, was harbouring another set of displaced people, who are living in an open area with their families.

    Addressing reporters after the meeting, Interior Minister Abba Moro condemned the recent attack on Nigerians at the peninsula.

    He said appropriate actions were being taken to address the situation.

    Morro said: “As it is now, as a good player on the international scene, Nigeria has subscribed to the Green Tree Agreement and, on our part as a country, we will continue to abide by the provisions of the agreement.

    “For one reason or the other, resulting from little skirmishes here and there, the Camerounian Gendarmes have attacked some innocent Nigerians.

  • Fed Govt urges Poland to invest in rural electricity

    The Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo, yesterday urged a visiting Polish delegation, led by the Chairman, Economic Council of the Polish Government, Pan Jan Bielecki, to build small power holdings to provide electricity for Nigeria’s rural dwellers.

    Nebo said: “It is impossible to get the super grid to all rural communities. We will like to engage with your various entities to build small power holdings to provide electricity to the rural populace.”

    The minister said the Federal Government was ready to explore Polish assistance in electricity metering.

    He said: “We are also prepared to explore Polish assistance in metering in conjunction with our regulatory body – the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).”

    Another area of concern in the power sector, according to the minister, is capacity building.

    A statement yesterday in Abuja by the Deputy Director/Head of Press, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, quoted the minister as saying that Nigeria “can really begin to forge a linkage with your (Polish) technical universities. We need to develop a versatile capacity in the power sector.”

    He added: “We also have opportunities for Polish manufacturers and investors to come in either as Independent Power Producers (IPPs) or form a partnership with Nigerians.”

    Bielecki said there some projects in the power sector were attractive to the Polish delegation.

    He said Poland has comparative advantage in the use of coal for power generation.

    According to him, over 80 per cent power is generated in Poland with the use of coal.

  • Fed Govt, private sector plan 18 cassava processing firms

    The Federal Government is to collaborate with the private sector to establish 18 cassava processing firms with machines that can process 240 tonnes of cassava per day.

    President, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), Olusegun Adewunmi, told The Nation that this was in line with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The processing industries, he said, would create a market for cassava.

    The objective of the agenda was to generate employment and transform the country into a leading player in the global food market to grow wealth for millions of farmers and make the agricultural sector a business project to promote private investment.

    The partnership, he said, would also execute integrated projects through value chain processes, generate employment and transform Nigeria into a net exporter of agricultural commodities.

    He said cassava growers would have to work hard to meet the requirement of the processing industries, especially as the country has started exporting cassava grits and chips to China. He commended the Federal Government for designing the agricultural transformation agenda.

    The agenda, Adewunmi said, has made farmers to partner with banks, and not a master-servant relationship, like it used to be in the past.

    “For the first time, a farmer can sit down and make a programme of his own and it is acceptable to the bank and to the government. In the past, it was the ministry that will make the programme, but we are glad it is no longer so. The agenda is working; it is giving us freedom,” he said.

    Adewunmi, who observed that the membership of the association has increased to more than one million farmers, said the membership would be more than 10 million in the next six months, adding the issue of cassava glut was also being addressed by the Federal Government’s agricultural programme.

  • Fed Govt slashes MDAs’ allocations

    Fed Govt slashes MDAs’ allocations

    The first victims of the signing of the 2013 Budget by President Goodluck Jonathan will be Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with overlapping functions.

    The Federal Government has started implementing the Steve Oronsaye Report, which proposed the scrapping or merging of such MDAs. To this end, in the 2013 Budget, the Federal Government has reduced allocations to agencies with duplicate functions.

    The expected result of this budgetary slash for the affected MDAs will be a saving of about N100 billion in 2013, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister for Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday at the 2013 Budget briefing in Abuja.

    Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said: “We are continuing the roll-out of Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS)across all MDAs which will result in savings in personnel costs. In the spirit of the Oronsaye Report, we have started trimming down allocations to agencies with duplicate functions. For the 2013 Budget, this resulted in about N100 billion of savings, and we hope to have even greater savings in 2014.”

    However, since some of these agencies with duplicate functions were established legally, the minister said the executive “will require the support of the National Assembly in reviewing the relevant legislations before we implement the rationalisation exercises”.

    Giving a breakdown of the assumptions of the 2013 Budget, the minister said: “The gross federally collectible revenue is projected at N11.34 trillion, of which the total revenue available for the Federal Government’s Budget is forecast at N4.1 trillion, representing an increase of 15 per cent over the estimate for 2012.”

    Some key allocations in the controversial budget are: critical infrastructure (including power, works, transport, aviation, gas pipelines, and Federal Capital Territory) – N497 billion; human capital development(i.e. Education and Health) – N705 billion; and Agriculture/Water Resources – N175 billion.

    The minister said there was no tinkering with the over N950 billion allocated for national security purposes, comprising of: N320 billion for the Police, N364 billion for the Armed Forces, N115 billion for the Office of the National Security Adviser, and N154 billion for the Ministry of the Interior.

    For 2013, the minister said the “SURE-P programme has a projected allocation of N180 billion, augmented by the 2012 unspent balances of N93.5 billion. This amount will be used to make further progress in the provision of social safety net schemes, maternal and child healthcare, youth development and vocational training for Nigerians.”

    In the budget, fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 1.85% of GDP compared to 2.85% in 2012. This, Okonjo-Iweala, said “is well within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and clearly highlights our commitment to fiscal prudence.”

    While non-oil revenue is projected to sustain its growth in 2013, the Federal Government appears not to be happy with the performance of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which it said only “worked hard to achieve a 20 percent growth rate in non-oil tax revenues between 2007 and 2012.”

    Though the minister commended the FIRS for this effort, she said she believed “that the gap between non-oil tax revenues currently collected and the full potential revenue remains significant.”

    Therefore, government, she said, “will support FIRS this year to embark on further reforms such as improving auditing checks, increasing controls on exemptions, and enforcing repayment of arrears. Similarly, we will also pay greater attention to increasing internally generated revenues, and work with government entities to increase their remittances to the treasury.”

    On debt management, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said the Federal Government is “committed to the implementation of a strong strategy for managing domestic debt which progressively scales down both the stock and flow of our domestic debts.”

    To this end, she disclosed that the Federal Government “recently paid down N75 billion of maturing debt obligations last week, and have also set aside N25 billion in a sinking fund to be used for retirement of maturing debt obligations in the future.”

    She added that “government has further reduced annual domestic borrowing to finance the budget deficit from N852 billion in 2011, to N744 in 2012, and now to N577 billion in 2013.”

    In addition, the government is “making concerted efforts to defray the debts of our foreign missions, by making provision of N13 billion in the 2013 Budget to help clear accumulated debts as at the cut-off date of June 2012.”

    Government has also established a committee under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which will work out a system to better manage the assets of foreign missions, the finance minister said.

    Government’s strategy in 2013 towards addressing the nation’s crippling infrastructure is to prioritise infrastructure investments in the budget, and also to leverage additional external financing for infrastructure investments in the country. As a result, Budget 2013 has some important infrastructure projects in the transportation sector, such as the second Niger Bridge.

    Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said government plans “to augment our domestic resources with a proposed $1 billion EuroBond as well as a Nigeria Diaspora Bond which will harness savings from Nigerians abroad”.

    These additional financial resources will be invested in various infrastructure projects such as building the country’s gas to power infrastructure. The government also plans “to use Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) aggressively, working with the Sovereign Wealth Fund which will attract co-investors from home and abroad such as pensions funds, institutional investors and so on.”

    To energise the construction sector, the minister stated that the Federal Government has decided to develop “a private sector led Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company to help provide long-term mortgages to help kick-start our housing and construction sectors.”

    On the performance of the 2012 Budget, the minister disclosed that her ministry “succeeded in releasing N1,017 billion for the implementation of various capital projects, and successfully cash-backed N739 billion. By the end of 2012, MDAs had utiliSed N686 billion or 92.8 per cent of the total amount cash-backed.”

    The reason for this performance, she said, was because “the 2012 Budget was approved late, and so implementation occurred over a compressed time schedule.”

    The budget, she said, has buffers against external shocks, such as the Excess Crude Account rising on the back of prudent oil revenue management and currently stands at about US$9 billion; and an external buffer for foreign reserves, which increased by $12 billion since 2011 and is now at about US$47.56 billion as at 4 March, 2013, the highest level for almost 3 years.

  • Fed Govt may employ diplomacy to fight oil theft

    The Federal Government is planning to collaborate with major oil consuming countries, especially the United States, European countries and some other emerging economies that are in high need of energy to find ways to fight oil theft in Nigeria.

    A source told The Nation in confidence that the Presidency said it would use the full weight of Nigeria’s diplomatic resources to ensure that it makes it easy to track and identify stolen crude from the country in order to discourage the thriving activities of oil thieves.

    Although the source didn’t disclose the extent of the Presidency’s efforts toward achieving the initiative, she noted that the government is deeply worried about the level and consistency of the dastardly act of oil theft.

    At the just held Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, where a special session was held on the way forward for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, the Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),Abiye Membere, said the country loses between 50,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day to stolen crude.

    Besides, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, had last year held a meeting with Service chiefs of the Armed Forces, State Security Service and the Police, on how to tackle oil theft. She noted that Nigeria loses about $7 billion yearly to stolen crude and another $5 billion on reparation and replacement of vandalised pipelines.

    Despite the efforts, the activities of the oil thieves have not abated. Apart from the Presidency plan, Membere said the government is exploring other areas to fight oil theft, which include use of fibre optic survey, satellite imaging, application of advanced technology and declaring proceeds from stolen Nigerian crude as blood money and most of all, speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    Membere said the volume of oil lost to illegal bunkering is equivalent to discovering two new oil fields, adding some of the countries that parade themselves as oil producing countries don’t produce as much as 50,000 barrels per day.

    He said stakeholders in the industry must find a way of breaking the unit of people driving the dastardly act of oil theft.

    The Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mutiu Sunmonu, had at several forums lamented the impact of oil theft on the company.

    He noted that over 80 percent of incidents from Shell operations were caused by vandals, which also impact on the environment where they operate.

  • Fed Govt introduces new yellow cards

    The Federal Government has introduced new yellow cards following the diplomatic row last year with South Africa over the genuineness of the International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis (ICVP) which was hitherto in use.

    The old card faced the problem of acceptability because of the existence of fake copies in circulation, according to the Minister of Health, Prof Onyenbuchi Chukwu, will be phased out by September.

    Besides, the minister also announced a general vaccination of Nigerians, specifically against yellow fever.

    The exercise, which he said will come up in May, is to protect Nigerians against the relapse of Yellow fever.

    Chukwu spoke at the

    opening of the Pre-56th National Council on Health (NCH) meeting in Abuja.

    He noted that the idea to introduce the new yellow card was muted last year at the 55th NCH meeting after South African officials refused some Nigerians entrance into their country on the excuse of incomplete entry documents, specifically the yellow cards.

    The introduction of the new yellow card, according to the minister, will put an end to the embarrassment received by Nigerians as a result of fake “yellow cards.”

    He said: “I have the pleasure to present the new International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis and formerly launch the card. As you are aware, one of the key resolutions approved for implementation by the Council at the 55th NCH was for the Federal Ministry of Health to proceed with the introduction of the new International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis (yellow card).

    “This I believe will put an end to the issue of fake “yellow cards” issued from multiple sources.”

    He further added that “a transition period of six months was to be allowed to withdraw the old cards after introduction of the new card.”