1. Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has unveiled his preferred successor, but it is not Edward Onoja, his strong ally, who served as Chief of Staff and became Deputy Governor after the impeachment of Simon Achuba in 2019. Bello unveiled the state’s Auditor-General Ahmed Usman-Ododo, as his preferred successor.
2. The authorities of the Nigeria Police Force, on Thursday, dismissed officers attached to the famous praise-singer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Dauda Adamu Kahutu Rarara. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesman of the force, who announced the decision at Force Headquarters in Abuja, said the officers were dismissed for wasting live ammunition.
3. The President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Uche Rowland Ojinmah, has said in spite of the brain drain in the health sector, many qualified doctors in Nigeria are still not employed. He disclosed this while speaking on the exodus of Nigerian medical practitioners leaving the country for greener pastures abroad.
4. Political parties, including the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, are set to battle for 93 legislative seats in federal and state parliaments in Saturday’s supplementary elections. Supplementary governorship elections will hold in Adamawa and Kebbi states on the same day.
5. The Central Bank of Nigeria has proposed that banks should transfer funds in accounts that have been dormant for up to 10 years into a trust fund account. This is contained in the recently released exposure draft of guidelines on the Management of Dormant Accounts, Unclaimed Balances and Other Financial Assets in Banks and Other Financial Institutions In Nigeria.
6. No fewer than three persons were killed while two others were abducted when gunmen suspected to be cultists invaded the Ubeta community in the Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State on Wednesday. The gunmen reportedly ransacked the community in what appeared to be a reprisal.
7. Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday, said he has not received any apology from the British government regarding his wrongful detention at Heathrow Airport, London, last week.
8. The war of words between President-elect, Bola Tinubu and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, continued yesterday with Tinubu describing Atiku as a serial loser and an unstable politician who could not have won the poll.
9. No fewer than eight persons have been killed in Atak’Njei Community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area, LGA, of Kaduna State, following an attack by suspected terrorists. This came as troops of Operation Whirl Punch, yesterday, intercepted a large cache of arms and ammunition in the state.
10. Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has warned the Federal Government not to contemplate the removal of the subsidy on petrol without local refining capacity, in view of its socio-economic implications on businesses and ordinary Nigerians.
