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Good morning! Here Are Some Major News Headlines In The Newspapers Today: Presidency tackles Obasanjo over democracy comment

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1. The Presidency, on Monday, blamed former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the current state of Nigeria’s democracy. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, noted that the democracy the country currently practises dates back to direct inputs by Obasanjo when he led the country first as military Head of State from 1976 – 1979 and as civilian President from 1999 – 2007.

 

2. The House of Representatives has summoned 83 ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government as it begins an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of over N447.6bn COVID-19 intervention fund from 2020 to 2022. At least 22 of the MDAs got not less than N447.6bn as COVID-19 funds in 2020 alone.

3. The Peoples Democratic Party has urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, to set up a judicial panel of inquiry to probe the alleged All Progressives Congress influence in the Court of Appeal judgment that sacked the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang. The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the party was appalled by a viral video where an APC leader, Yusuf Gagdi, boasted that they know people in the Supreme Court.

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4. Following the expiration of the deadline earlier given to land allottees owing ground rents in Abuja, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has extended the payment deadline till December 14, 2023. In the publication signed by the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Olusade Adesola, the debtors were advised to pay up “within two weeks from the date of publication, failure of which such titles may be revoked.”

5. Factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, has said he is ready to die while doing what is right for the interest of the state. He said some powerful individuals were after him because he is standing with the Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and opposing the sinister plot to impeach him.

6. The prospect of German investment in Nigeria’s power and rail sector brightened yesterday after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. It was the second meeting between the two leaders in one month, both of which focused on German investment in Nigeria.

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7. Monthly revenue inflow into the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) fund has risen from N650 billion to N1trillion since the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said. He spoke in Asaba, the Delta State capital, at the opening of a four-day retreat organised for FAAC members.

8. The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Monday affirmed Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the validly elected governor of Benue State. The court dismissed the appeal filed before it by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Titus Uba, and declared Alia the true winner of the March 18 polls.

9. A man, Ade Olowopopo, has taken his two sons, Kunle and Mayowa Olowopopo, to court for allegedly assaulting their sister, Bisi Olowopopo, and for stealing his properties at Lakwe Lekki, Lagos State. The Olowopopos were arraigned on Monday before Magistrate O. M. Ajayi presiding over an Ebute Metta Magistrate’s Court on five counts bordering on breach of peace, assault, breaking, stealing, and threat to life.

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10. The Lagos State Police Command has said the autopsy report of the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad, conducted two months ago has not been given to them. The State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, who made this known on Monday, urged Nigerians to disregard the rumour making the rounds.

 

 

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FG fixes May 24 to open student loan portal

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The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has fixed May 24 for the opening of the student loan portal.

 

Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director of the fund, announced the development in a statement on Thursday.

 

Sawyerr said the opening of the portal for student loan applications marks a significant milestone in the current administration’s goal of fostering accessible and inclusive education.

 

“Through the portal, students can now access loans to pursue their academic aspirations without financial constraints,” the statement reads.

 

“The portal provides a user-friendly interface for students to submit their loan applications conveniently.

 

“We encourage all eligible students to take advantage of this opportunity to invest in their future and contribute to the growth and development of our nation.

 

“Students can access the portal at www.nelf.gov.ng to begin their applications.”

 

President Bola Tinubu, in June 2023, enacted the student loan policy to grant interest-free loans to needy students.

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The scheme was slated to commence between September and October 2023, but implementation was repeatedly deferred.

 

The policy was heavily criticised for its stringent requirements, which many stakeholders argued would render the scheme inaccessible.

 

In March 2024, the president wrote to the national assembly requesting the repeal and reenactment of the law.

 

On April 3, Tinubu re-enacted the policy, effectively repealing the old law and reintroducing a new version.

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JUST IN: 36 house of assembly speakers back creation of state police

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The speakers of Nigeria’s 36 state houses of assembly have supported the ongoing process by the national assembly to create state police.

 

The speakers made their resolution known in a communique issued at the end of the meeting of the conference of speakers of state legislatures held in Abuja on Thursday.

 

Adebo Ogundoyin, speaker of the Oyo house of assembly and chairman of the conference, signed the communique.

 

The speakers said state policing would check the negative trend of insecurity in the country.

 

“To achieve this, the Conference appeals to the National Assembly, Presidency and other relevant Stakeholders to leverage on the ongoing constitution review exercise,” the communique reads.

 

The two chambers of the national assembly are working to amend some provisions of the 1999 constitution to include items such as state police.

 

Last month, Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police (IGP), said Nigeria is not “mature” for state police.

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On February 15, the federal government set up a committee to explore the creation of state police in the country.

 

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, said President Bola Tinubu and governors have agreed on modalities for the concept.

 

The minister added that a series of meetings would take place to determine the workability of a decentralised police force.

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Some youths trading crypto unaware they’re being used to fund terrorism – Olukoyede

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Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says some youths who trade in cryptocurrencies do not know that they are being used to fund terrorism in Nigeria.

 

Olukoyede spoke on Wednesday during a multi-stakeholders’ national dialogue on preventing terrorism financing and violent extremism.

 

The EFCC chair said some of the people who receive money to trade in cryptocurrencies do not know that their financiers are sponsors of terrorism.

 

He added that some of the 1,146 bank accounts recently frozen by the anti-graft agency were conduits for terrorism funding.

 

“Some of you are aware of our activities in the area of investigating virtual currency trading and the likes of cryptocurrencies,” he said.

 

“They are potential platforms to fund terrorism. A lot of us don’t understand that. Some of our discoveries during investigation of some of these platforms were mind boggling.

 

“We thought Binance was a major one. Yes, it was. We are prosecuting them. But there are other platforms we have discovered.

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“They used some of these young men. Some of them don’t know that the people who gave them money to trade are people who fund terrorism.”

 

The EFCC boss said there is a need to adopt technology in tracking money used to fund terrorism in the country.

 

Olukoyede narrated how he was informed by a friend in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that dollar bills across the world can be tracked with technology.

 

“It is important for us to adopt the use of technology,” he said.

 

“I was comparing notes with an assistant director in the FBI — a friend of mine. He said: ‘My brother, from our systems in the US, we can track every printed dollar anywhere in the world’.”

 

The EFCC boss added that Nigeria must get to that stage where technology can be deployed to track naira notes used for terrorism financing.

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