Good Morning, Welcome to Daily News24 Roundup of Top Nigerian Newspapers Headlines for Tuesday, Jan. 4th.
- Nigeria Not Ripe For Direct Primaries — IPAC
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) says Nigeria is not ripe to adopt direct primaries however beneficial it may appear to be.
The IPAC, which is a pressure group of the 18 registered political parties in the country, said the National Assembly’s attempt to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill would be fruitless.
IPAC National Chairman, Yabagi Yusuf Sani, at a press conference in Abuja Monday, said the council backed Buhari for declining assent to that part of the bill.
2. Why Zamfara Bandits’ Kingpin, Turji, Released 52 Captives
More facts have emerged on why a notorious bandit in Zamfara State, Bello Turji, 0unconditionally released 52 persons who had been under his captivity for a long time, sources familiar with the matter told Daily Trust.
The release of the captives, Daily Trust gathered, was part of renewed backdoor talks between Turji and emissaries of the Zamfara State Government. r
This paper had in early December reported that a delegation visited Turji’s enclave to reopen talks after the terror kingpin rebuffed earlier entreaties from the Shinkafi community.
3.New Year celebrations: Experts project high infection rate as Nigerians shun protocols at fun spots
Medical experts have warned that Nigeria risks a further surge in COVID-19 cases following complete disregard for safety protocols at crowded fun spots, including beaches, during the New Year celebrations.
Renowned virologists, who spoke to our correspondents in separate interviews, lambasted state and federal governments for not enforcing safety rules and bringing violators to book.
The experts said this as the Federal Government said it distributed 400,000 COVID-19 test kits in the last one week as the rate of recovery from the virus dropped by 73.2 per cent.
4. Magodo residents protest planned demolition, continuous police presence
Following the continuous presence of over 50 armed policemen in the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of Lagos State, the estate management has ordered a closure of the estate gates in protest against the planned demolition of property in the estate.
The policemen were said to have recently accompanied suspected land grabbers and members of a family who invaded the estate to claim possession of property.
During the invasion, the group used red, brown and blue inks to inscribe ‘ID/795/88 Possession Taken Today 21/12/21 by Court Order,’ on various properties on the estate.
5. Customs, Immigration, 13 others fail to remit N127.1bn – Audit report
The Office of the Auditor General of the Federation has disclosed that 15 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies failed to remit N127.13bn revenue to the Consolidated Revenue Fund between 2017 and 2019.
The OAuGF made this known in its 2019 Annual Report on Non-Compliance, Internal Control, and Weakness Issues in MDAs of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was submitted to the National Assembly.
The CRF was created by Section 80(1) of the 1999 Constitution which states that “all revenues or other sums of money raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other money payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.”
6. Olubadan: Ibadan chiefs disagree over sucession
A strange succession crisis has hit Ibadanland, following the passage of the Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji.
Although the next-in-line to the throne, the Otun Olubadan, High Chief Lekan Balogun, is perceived as the natural successor, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Michael Lana has written to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde not to approve his appointment, if selected by the Olubadan-In-Council.
Lana, who is counsel to Osi-Olubadan, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, said since Balogun has been elevated to an Oba and received a crown, he should not be installed as Olubadan.
7. Ban: Twitter meets conditions
Twitter users may soon have access to the social media platform which has met the six conditions imposed on it by the Federal Government.
The Technical Committee raised by the government to resolve the impasse between the two parties is fine-tuning the offers by the micro blogger before making a final recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The President is also awaiting the report of the committee to lift the ban it imposed on Twitter on June 4, last year.
8. 2023: APC, PDP echelons abuzz over Jonathan’s moves
Ahead of the 2023 Presidential election, insinuations are rife that President Muhammadu Buhari is secretly wooing his predecessor in office, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Jonathan, it would be recalled, conceded defeat while official results of the 2015 Presidential elections were being announced, a development that fetched him national and global acclaim.
After a few months of throwing jibes at each other particularly on how the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, allegedly mismanaged the affairs of the nation while in power, President Buhari appears to have made up with Jonathan as the two have been regularly meeting at the Aso Rock Villa behind-closed-doors.
9. GENCOs loses drop 42.2% to N147.05bn over non-payment for unused power
ELECTRICITY Generation Companies, GENCOs’ losses associated with non-payment for unused electricity dropped to N147.05 billion between January and November 2021, from N256.03billion in the corresponding period of 2020, indicating a decrease of 42.6 percent.
Authoritative industry report sighted by Energy Vanguard also showed that average Nigeria’s unutilized power generation dropped to 2,254.64 Megawatts, MW in 2021, from 3,742.43 MW in 2020, due mainly to lack of infrastructure.
For the second Monday in a row, economic and commercial activities kicked off in full swing across the states in the southeast region, twenty-two weeks after the declaration of sit-at-home at the instance of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB.
