1. Commissioner of Cooperatives and SMEs Development in Bauchi State, Sa’adatu Bello Kirfi has resigned her position. She resigned 24 hours after her father, Muhammadu Bello Kirfi was removed as the Wazirin Bauchi. Kirfi was dethroned for allegedly disrespecting Governor Bala Mohammed.
2. The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday in Kano State, expressed optimism that his party would capture Kano State and Nigeria as a whole, come 2023 elections. Tinubu, who was accorded a rousing reception was in Kano for the flag-off of the Northwest presidential campaign rally.
3. The spiritual director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev Fr. Ejike Mbaka, yesterday returned from the monastery after eight months of suspension. A video circulating online captured a crowd welcoming Mbaka at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.
4. Electricity distribution companies have quietly increased the amount payable by power consumers across the country. Although most of the Discos did not make this public, power users have kicked against the move, describing it as a fleece amidst the harsh economic reality in Nigeria currently.
5. The Nigerian Medical Association, South-South Zone, yesterday threatened to shut down all hospitals in Delta State to protest the murder of one of its members, Dr. Uyi Iluobe by gunmen who attacked his hospital, Olive Clinic, at Oghareki, in the Ethiope West Local Government Area on New Year’s Eve.
6. Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Wednesday expressed confidence that whoever he adopts as candidate will be victorious at the February 25 presidential poll. The governor said the insults being hurled at him would not make him change his mind on working for his yet-to-named preferred presidential candidate.
7. Chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State have shunned Governor Seyi Makinde by organising a rally for its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The chieftains, who include Elder Wole Oyelese, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide and a former deputy governor, Hazeem Gbolarumi, said the G-5 crisis is between the governors and the National Chairman, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu, not with Atiku.
8. An FCT High Court has stopped an application seeking to remove the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu from office over alleged false asset declaration. Justice M. A. Hassan on Wednesday refused the application alongside the 14 reliefs brought by the claimants.
9. The Department of State Services (DSS) says it has arrested a high commander of Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abdulmumin Ibrahim Otaru, aka Abu Mikdad, in connection with the explosion around the palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland in Kogi State.
10. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is prospecting for crude oil in more locations across the north, after discovering the commodity in Bauchi and Gombe States. NNPC stated that it was currently taking coordinated steps for more frontier exploration in the region, as part of measures to shore up the country’s oil output and reserves.