17th Sep Newspaper Headlines from Nigeria

Posted on by Kelvin Funkeye

1. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has formally announced his bid to seek the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 Lagos governorship election. He made his intention known on Sunday while addressing his supporters at City Hall, Lagos. The development means he will contest for the APC ticket against Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. The aspirant is the Managing Director of Lagos State Property Development Corporation, LSDPC, a parastatal under Lagos State Government and believed to be having the support of Bola Tinubu.

2. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has been instructed to ensure Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti State does not escape from the country. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stated this in a letter signed by Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the EFCC. The anti-graft agency in the letter addressed to the Comptroller-General of customs urged them to place Fayose on its watchlist and arrest him if he tries to leave Nigeria.

3. A Toyota Sienna car belonging to Nezam Transport Company, conveying 6 persons from Lagos and heading to Otukpo in Benue State was intercepted along 9th Mile expressway, near Enugu on Saturday. Loveth Oibe, elder sister of two of the occupants, identified as 22-year-old Kate Oibe and Samuel Oibe-13, said the gunmen intercepted the car and whisked all passengers away. She, however, said that a passenger and the driver of the vehicle escaped. Meanwhile, the Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ebere Amarizu said the police was already working hard to rescue the victims.

4. Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, on Sunday raised the alarm over an alleged plot to frame him up. The lawmaker alleged that the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello was intimidating one Mr Dogo to implicate him in a lie that he tried to kill the governor. He also alleged that Bello had bribed the police to act out the script by arresting and detaining him.

5. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has reacted to media claims that it has frozen the accounts of musician, David Adeleke, aka Davido and that of his uncle, Ademola Adeleke. The commission in a statement signed on Sunday by its spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said there was no truth in the claims being circulated by the Peoples Democratic Party and some politically motivated elements, saying it was aimed at tarnishing the image of the agency.

6. Some members of the House of Representatives under the aegis of Parliamentary Democrats Group (PDG) have vowed to block any move to impeach Speaker Yakubu Dogara. PDG spokesman, Timothy Golu (PDP, Plateau), in a statement on Sunday, alleged that there was a threat to remove Dogara. According to Golu, PDG members were prepared to defend the “rights and mandate” of the Speaker.

7. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Sulaimon Lasun Yusuff, on Sunday dismissed reports that he had defected from the ruling All Progressives Party (APC), to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Lasun in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Wole Oladimeji‎, described the alleged defection to the PDP as “highly misleading and uncalled for, saying he is a complete progressive.

8. A presidential aspirant under the platform of the PDP and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has urged the North Central geopolitical zone to present one presidential candidate ahead of the party’s primary. Saraki also noted that the zone has worked hard to secure Nigeria and it was their turn to drive the country out of insecurity and divisiveness orchestrated by the ruling APC. He said this on Sunday during an interaction with delegates and stakeholders of the party at the PDP Secretariat in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

9. The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has reacted to a letter by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) instructing the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to monitor and arrest him anytime he wants to run away from the country. Fayose said putting him on the watchlist was not only political but petty. He maintained that he would remain with the PDP no matter the action taken against him.

10. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has accused the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole over poor management of funds available to the ministry. SERAP in a statement signed by its Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale urged Adewole to provide information about the actual spending of allocations to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Idi Araba, other 20 federal teaching hospitals and 20 federal medical centres across the country, for the period covering 2010 to 2017.