1. African Democratic Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Obidient movement, and civil society groups on Sunday warned that the implementation of the voter revalidation exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission could disenfranchise the electorate and damage public trust.
The ADC spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi, in an interview with The PUNCH, pointed out that rural dwellers may be disenfranchised, citing challenges of access and awareness in remote communities
2. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf appears strongly prepared to confront the opposition in Kano, insisting that the Kwankwasiyya Movement within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) would not come close to the seat of power in 2027, let alone secure a one-term in government. Responding to the group’s new viral coinage in the Hausa language, “Abba Falle daya ce”, meaning Abba would only serve one term, he submitted that both ADC and NNPP lack the dexterity to win elections in the state
3. To guarantee a stable electricity supply, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a N3.3 trillion payment plan to settle debts in the power sector. The approval comes as electricity consumers reel under outages arising from load shedding triggered by a sharp decline in power generation, largely due to gas supply shortages that have constrained output from thermal plants
4. The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has directed officers seen in a viral stop-and-search video in Lagos to report to the Force Headquarters in Abuja for disciplinary proceedings. The directive was disclosed on Sunday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Aliyu Giwa, in a statement shared via his official X handle.
5. The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has debunked reports alleging that its Interim National Chairman, David Mark, has resigned from his position. In a statement issued by the National Chairman’s Media Office, the reports were dismissed as “an insidious fabrication” orchestrated by “puerile, weak and inconsiderate propagandists”.
6. Former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has detailed how the Federal Government leveraged technology to eliminate massive payroll fraud, revealing that the integration of the Bank Verification Number led to the discovery of 45,000 ‘ghost workers.’
Speaking at the Citadel School of Government Dialogue series in Lagos, Adeosun explained that before the intervention, the federal payroll was the government’s single largest expenditure, riddled with inefficiencies that traditional biometric efforts had failed to solve.
7. British politician of Nigerian descent, Kemi Badenoch, has emerged as the most popular political party leader in the United Kingdom, according to a new opinion poll, Daily Mail reports on Sunday. Badenoch, who was born in London and spent part of her early years in Nigeria, currently leads the UK Conservative Party.
8. Amnesty International has called on Nigerian authorities to investigate the alleged reckless use of firearms by military personnel that led to the death of a 14-year-old girl in Maiduguri, Borno state. In a statement on Sunday, the rights organisation said the secondary school student was killed on Saturday, April 4, after she was hit by a stray bullet inside her home.
9. Nigerian Army said it has foiled a terrorist attack, leading to the rescue of 31 persons abducted during an Easter church service in Ariko Village, Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State. In a statement on its official X handle, the Nigerian Army stated that the development followed a distress call reporting the abduction of worshippers during an Easter service at an ECWA Church in Ariko Village.
10. Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have dismantled a drug trafficking syndicate that concealed cocaine in tins of palm kernel extract bound for the United Kingdom, arresting key suspects, including the alleged kingpin in Lagos. NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed in a statement on Sunday, informing that the operation followed three weeks of intelligence gathering and coordinated enforcement actions.
