Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Wednesday 26th October 2022
Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Wednesday, 26th October 2022
1. Nigeria Is Safer Than Ever Before – Lai Mohammed Rejects Terrorists Attack Warning By US, UK
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed on Tuesday declared that the security situation in Nigeria is not as bad as some people are painting it to be. He advanced that the country is safer in recent times while both the government and military authorities are not resting in their attempts to make things better. The Minister also knocked the embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom for issuing security warnings about possible terrorist attacks on Abuja, the nation’s federal capital territory. He said such unguarded statements are capable of disrupting the peace and tranquility of Nigeria and urged foreign countries to always seek clarification on such important national issues. He added that misinformation should be guided against at all levels as it can cause bigger problems. Naija News reports Mohammed who spoke in Abuja at the ministerial panel of the ongoing UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Week also blamed local media and social media users in Nigeria for spreading the information without weighing the consequences or seeking clarification from the government.
2. INEC Picks Date For Imo, Bayelsa And Kogi Governorship Elections
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled a date for the Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi governorship elections next year. The electoral body, which picked November 11, 2023, for the conduct of the governorship elections, also approved the timetable at its weekly meeting on Tuesday. The Commission fixed primary elections by parties for March 27 to April 17, 2023. Naija News reports that INEC, who revealed this in a statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye said “this decision is in fulfilment of the requirement of Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 which mandates the Commission to publish the Notice of Election not later than 360 days before the date fixed for the elections. The tenure of the incumbent Governor of Imo State ends on 14th January 2024 while those of Kogi and Beyelsa States end on 26th January 2024 and 13th February 2024 respectively. Accordingly, the Commission has decided to conduct the three elections on Saturday 11th November 2023.
3. Details of Buhari’s Meeting With Ban Ki-Moon Emerges
The details of the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-Moon, have emerged Naija News earlier reported that Buhari met with Ki-Moon in Seoul, the South Korean capital on the sidelines of the 2022 World Bio Summit on Tuesday. The Summit, which has the theme: ‘The Future of Vaccine and Bio-Health’, is jointly been hosted by the South Korean Government and the World Health Organisation (WHO). During the meeting with the Chairman of Ban Ki-Moon Foundation for Better Future, Buhari said Nigeria was already experiencing the negative fallout of climate change. He stated the impact of climate change has led to flooding in different parts of the country, including encroaching desertification and drought in the Northern part of the nation. In a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, President Buhari expressed happiness with the cooperation existing between Nigeria and the Republic of Korea, especially in the area of energy supply, citing gas exports to the Asian country. The Nigerian leader asserted that education is one of the key investments in addressing unemployment and underdevelopment, adding that health challenges must be equally addressed.
4. Tinubu And His Family Have Become A Parasite To Lagos State, I Not My Son Is Seeking Presidency – Peter Obi Fires Keyamo
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has asked Nigerians to reject any presidential candidate that will turn governance into a family and friends business. Speaking through the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation, the former Anambra State governor urged Nigerians not to vote for anyone who will rule the country by proxy. Naija News reports that Peter Obi was reacting to the challenge thrown to him by the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, for his son to organize a campaign rally in his state like the APC flag bearer’s son, Seyi Tinubu, did for his father in Lagos. Peter Obi’s campaign, in a statement on Tuesday, said the only thing that joins him and Tinubu is that they were once governors of states in Nigeria, “after that one became a parasite to the state government he served with his entire family while the other left government house and he and any members of his family never collected a dime from Anambra state.” The campaign said: “Unlike Tinubu and his household, who have grown to be stupendously wealthy with no identifiable industry or means of making money outside the state government for over two decades, Obi is not like that.
5. Appeal Court Speaks On Transfering Judges Who Discharged Nnamdi Kanu Of Terrorism Charges
The Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday cleared the air on the transfer of the judges responsible for discharging the terrorism charges levelled against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. The Appellate court noted that the transfer of its twenty-one justices to various divisions in the country has nothing to do with Kanu’s case. According to the Court of Appeal, the judges were transferred due to a routine exercise aimed at reinvigorating the justice delivery of the Court. The Chief Registrar of the Court, Umar Mohammed Bangari, in a statement denied the report that the three Justices who discharged Kanu from the suit filed against him by Federal Government on October 13 were transferred. Bangari disclosed that only one Justice out of the three that handled Kanu’s case was transferred.
6. Court Nullifies All APC Primaries In Rivers State
The primaries conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State have been nullified by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the state capital. One George Orlu and four others had filed a suit against Rivers APC, requesting nullification of the primaries of the party in Rivers for alleged exclusion in the process. The presiding Judge, Justice E A Obile on Tuesday nullified the primaries following the exclusion of party members from the delegate list. The judge ruled that the aggrieved members were wrongly excluded from the elections to participate in the party primaries. Justice Obile stated that the primaries nullified and all those elected consequently not recognized as candidates for the coming elections.
7. Stop Taking Police Personnel To The Slaughterhouse In The Name Of VIP Protection – Retired AIG Warns
A retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Aisabor has urged the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force to stop the attachment of its personnel to non-deserving persons in society. This is as he lamented that many police operatives have lost their lives while acting as security guards for the so-called Very Important Persons (VIPs) in society. According to Aisabor, those entitled to police security should be the presidency, the leadership of the National Assembly, Governors and their deputies, and most importantly the judiciary. He said it is however unfortunate that the operatives are now deployed to the highest bidders in the society where many of them lose their lives during attacks. The retired AIG urged the leadership of the Police Force to withdraw its personnel serving as VIP escorts so there can be sufficient manpower to tackle rising insecurity in many parts of the country. He made the submission against the backdrop of the recent killing of policemen attached to the General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman.
8. Break Up: Obaseki Has Sold His Soul, He’s One Of Those Misleading Atiku – APC Hits Edo Governor
The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has described the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki as a traitor who sold his entire region in exchange for personal gains. The APC in a statement on Tuesday by the Director of Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo said it is rather unfortunate that Obaseki is the one making outrageous statements ahead of the 2023 elections. Naija News reports that the statement from Keyamo is a direct reaction to an earlier submission by Obaseki that Nigeria would break up if the APC is allowed to return to power in 2023 through the candidacy of Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima. However, Keyamo in response said the Edo Governor who couldn’t stand and fight for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone its presidential ticket to the south is now speaking against the ticket from the zone. The APC campaign spokesperson added that Obaseki and the likes of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa not only sold their souls and their people in exchange for the Biblical pot of porridge to support the PDP ticket going to Atiku Abubakar but are also part of those wrongly pushing Atiku towards imploding the party and attempting to break up Nigeria for disrespecting the PDP zoning formula.
9. Confusion Among Loyalists As Mimiko Is Named Leader Of Ondo PDP Campaign Council
The former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko has been named leader of the Peoples Democratic Party( PDP) State Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) committee in the state. The 441-member committee has Ambassador Roland Omowa as its chairman, while Barr. Eyitayo Jegede was picked as the vice chairman. However, Naija News reports that the development has caused confusion among Mimiko’s loyalists, as they said they don’t understand what the position of Leader of the campaign Council means. A loyalist of the former Ondo state governor, who pleaded anonymity was quoted by The Nation to have said Mimiko hasn’t given them any directive on whether or not they should join the Atiku campaign train. Recall that Mimiko has been part of the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike’s team, who are advocating for a PDP national chairman of southern extraction and therefore insisting on the removal of the party’s national chairman Iyorchia Ayu.
10. ASUU: NLC Calls On FG To Release Withheld Salaries Of Lecturers
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has urged the Federal Government to release the withheld salaries of the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Naija News reports the union made this known in a communique made available after NLC’s National Executive Council meeting held in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State. In the communique, the NLC said, “NEC noted the collapse of effective collective bargaining machinery in the tertiary education sub-sector.” This follows the federal government’s policy of no-work-no-pay policy against ASUU lecturers during the eight-month-old strike by the union. The Labour Congress announced last week that it will be holding a NEC meeting in Kebbi state, of all the NLC-affiliated unions from the 36 states of the federation, union leaders and other stakeholders.
Those are the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naija News. See you again tomorrow.
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