By Ahmed Idris
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday signed into law the Medical Residency Training Bill 2018, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Mr Ita Enang, said in Abuja.
Addressing State House correspondents, Enang said the President also signed into law the Hydro Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission Amendment Bill.
He said the Medical Residency Training Act would ensure continuous and post-graduate training of medical doctors in the country.
“This Act is directed at ensuring continuous and post-graduate training of medical doctors and it is intended again to ensure the quality of medical practice in the country as well as reverse medical tourism so that people will now be coming into the country for treatment,” he said.
He said the Act stipulates that the programme would be managed by the National Post-Graduate Medical College of Nigeria and it is for those who already have their first degree in medicine or surgery and have finished their National Youth Service Corps programme and posses indemnity insurance certificate from a reputable insurance company.
Enang said the amended Hydro Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission Amendment Act provides reduction in the percentage revenue derived by the companies and authorities producing hydro power in the dams.
“This Act did provide in section that 30 per cent of the revenue derived by the companies and authorities producing hydro power in the dams, will go to the Commission for its operations. But the amendment just assented to have reduced that 30 percent now to 10 percent.
“Because the previous act did not discretion and powers to the Minister to give directives and it did not recognise the powers of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to regulate the activities of the Hydro Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission but now this amendment has cured that and the minister is given powers to make regulations and give directives and NERC is also given its powers to regulate this area in accordance with the principal act,” he said.
