Good Morning, Welcome to Daily News24 Roundup of Top Nigerian Newspapers Headlines for Wednesday, Dec. 23rd.
- Electoral Act amendment bill: Senate backs down on overriding Buhari, refers bill to constituents
THE Senate on Wednesday failed to override the veto of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on the Electoral Act Amendment bill.
The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, after an executive session, said the lawmakers had decided to take the President’s rejection of the bill to their constituencies during Christmas and New Year holidays before deciding on the next line of action.
Buhari had withheld assent to the Electoral Act amendment bill 2021, insisting that the inclusion of the mandatory direct primaries in the bill might pose financial, legal and security challenges.
2. Obasanjo’s hatred towards Niger Delta disappointing, says Clark
Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ijaw National Congress, Chief Edwin Clark, on Wednesday slammed former President Olusegun Obasanjo over what he called a disappointing display of hatred against the people of the oil-producing states in Nigeria.
The elder statesman was reacting to a recent outburst by the former President in Abuja, where he attacked the National Secretary of the INC, Ebipamowei Wodu, at a peace and security parley convened by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa.
In an open letter to Obasanjo on Wednesday titled, ‘My disappointment over your unprovoked outburst against the people of the Niger Delta region’, Clark accused the former President of double standards over resource control in the country.
A former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has described Imo as once a darling of fun-seekers but now the most insecure place to live.
Okorocha spoke in Eziama Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government Area of the state during the burial ceremony of Ezinne Adanaweze Nwosu, the mother of his son-in-law, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu.
He said what was happening in Imo was not what he envisaged when he was leaving as governor in 2019.
4. Miss Nigeria: Hisbah Under Fire Over Move To Invite Shatu Garko’s Parents
The Kano state Hisbah board is currently under fire over its plan to invite the parents of Shatu Garko, winner of Miss Nigeria 2021.
Garko, an 18-year-old Hijab wearing model from Kano, emerged winner of the contest, which held in Lagos on Friday night.
But Commandant-General of the board, Harun Ibn Sina, had told Daily Trust that participation in beauty pageants was against Islamic teachings.
5. Africa ought to spend 50% of GDP on education, says Daisi
Business mogul, Chief Kola Daisi, has said Nigeria and other African countries should be devoting up to 50 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education funding.
In an interview, the cctogenarian and founder of Kola Daisi University, Oyo, said for Nigeria to catch up with the developed countries, it must dedicate more resources to funding education.
He said: “If you are going to talk about improvement of the sector, you have to take the society as priority because the general opinion is that the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dedicated to education in Africa, as a whole, is far too low for the United Nations average.
6. Social injustice, failed economy fueling insecurity — Eminent Nigerians
Eminent Nigerians, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, have warned that except the Federal Government changed its attitude towards the problem of marginalisation, and also fix the failing economy, the country will continue to suffer insecurity.
They expressed this view in a communique issued on Wednesday at the end of an inclusive security dialogue, jointly organised in Abuja by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa.
7. FG destroys over 1m doses of expired Astrazeneca vaccines
The Federal Government has destroyed about 1,066,214 doses of Astrazeneca vaccines donated to the country to combat COVID-19.
The destruction carried out on Wednesday in Abuja, according to the government, followed the expiration of the vaccines given to the country by foreign donors.
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA handed the vaccines to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, which in turn, presented them to the Abuja Environmental Protection Agency to destroy at Gosa Dumsite, at Kilometer 2, near Idu Railway Station, in Abuja.
8. Federal Govt To Spend N500bn On East-West Road
Federal government said it would spend over half a trillion naira to complete the section I-V of the East-West Road, which spans across five states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
The permanent secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Babayo Ardo, disclosed this yesterday, in Uyo Akwa Ibom State, in a keynote address at the stakeholders’ validation workshop on “Access Management and Mitigation Action Plan.”
In a statement by the director of press and public relations of the ministry, Deworitshe Patricia, Ardo stated that the dual carriage way which is designed to function as a regional spine on the East-West axis would promote unimpeded movement of goods and passengers in the Niger Delta region.
9. Fuel Subsidy: N270.83bn For Deduction From December FAAC – NNPC
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) petrol subsidy value shortfall of N270.83 billion will be recovered from the December, 2021 proceed due for sharing at the January, 2022 FAAC meeting.
This was contained Corporation’s presentation to the FAAC meeting held in Abuja last week and obtained by LEADERSHIP yesterday.
In another development, the corporation said a total sum of ₦203.73billion was realized as proceeds for the sale of white products in the month of July 2021 by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a downstream subsidiary of the NNPC Ltd.
10. STATE OF THE NATION: Convene Reconciliation Confab Now, OBJ, Sultan Tell President Buhari
Some prominent Nigerians have called on the President Muhammadu Buhari led-government to, as a matter of urgency, convene a national reconciliatory conference as a way of addressing the challenges confronting the nation.
Among those who made this call yesterday are former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Sultan of Sokoto and president-general of Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III and the president of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Samson Ayokunle.
In a report released after their Security Dialogue Retreat in Abuja, which was convened by Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa headed by Bishop Sunday Onuaha, the Nigerian leaders said a national reconciliation conference should be held to address numerous national challenges, including insecurity.
