Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know this Friday morning

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. Justice A. O. Onovo of the Enugu State High Court, Thursday, declared the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra by the South-East Governors’ Forum as illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. In 2017, the South-East Governors Forum, led by former Gov David Umahi of Ebonyi State, proscribed IPOB activities.

2. Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, has rejected the apology tendered by his deputy, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, over the embarrassment that the ongoing political crisis must have caused in the State. The Governor also rejected some of the claims made by Aiyedatiwa in his apology and insisted that his deputy had a question to answer before the State House of Assembly.

3. Abdullahi Ganduje, chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), says the Supreme Court judgement upholding the election of Presided Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a proof that the February 25 presidential election was not manipulated as claimed by the opposition. He said the verdict would pave the way for Tinubu to concentrate on implementing the “Renewed Hope”; mandate of the APC for the benefit of Nigerians.

4. Acting Inspector-General of Police, (IGP) Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, on Thursday, decorated twelve (12) Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) and nineteen (19) Commissioners of Police (CPs) with their new ranks. The ceremony took place at the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Peacekeeping Hall, Force Headquarters, Abuja.

5. Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umar Radda, has said that his administration won’t in any way negotiate with bandits but rather he is determined to apply sufficient military force to compel the bandits to come to the negotiating table. The Governor said this when he visited the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, in his office on Thursday.

6. Rivers State Police Command on Thursday paraded one Damian Okoligwe, a 400-level student of Petroleum Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, for allegedly killing his 20-year-old ex-lover for money ritual. The suspect had reportedly killed and dismembered the body of his former girlfriend, Justina Otuene, a 300-level student in the Department of biochemistry, in the same institution.

7. The Labour Party, LP, on Thursday announced its decision to move on following the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election. Julius Abure, the LP National Chairman, made the remark while accusing the Supreme Court of shredding the fabric of justice and good conscience in its verdicts.

8. The House of Representatives has mandated its committees to investigate the persistent loss of firearms by personnel of the Nigeria Police Force. The House on Thursday mandated the Committees on National Security and Intelligence, Police Affairs and Public Accounts, to investigate the persistent firearm loss, the failure of the police force to comply with the Financial Regulations Act, and recommend appropriate punitive measures.

9. The Defence Headquarters said, on Thursday, that troops in the last two weeks intercepted stolen crude worth N1.2bn. This was as it vowed to incapacitate terrorists from carrying out small-scale attacks on soft targets. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said this in Abuja while briefing journalists on the activities of the military in the past two weeks.

10. The Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has suspended its youth leader, Mr Folorunso Makinde. The party’s State Publicity Secretary, Mr Kennedy Peretei, who disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday, said Makinde is advised to appear before the State Disciplinary Committee of the party for further interrogations within the next seven days.