Good morning Nigeria, Welcome to the Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Saturday, 27th, January 2024.
A private jet having about 10 persons onboard, including Very Important Personalities (VIPs), crash-landed on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Naija News learnt that the jet with registration number, N580KR, crash-landed around 11 am at the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport.
A source who spoke to Channels TV on the incident said the jet missed the runway into the nearby bush, but there was no death or casualty recorded.
Firefighters and rescue officials from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were immediately deployed to the scene.
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), has denied insinuations that the group or its members are responsible for the crisis in the Mangu local government area of Plateau State.
The chairman of MACBAN in Mangu, Yahaya Bello, who spoke to newsmen on behalf of other members, said there is no truth in the allegations that its members are involved in recent tacks in the area.
According to him, MACBAN members are responsible people and not militias, adding that the allegations against them are “untrue,”
Bello stated that some of their own people have also been killed in the ongoing crisis, adding that in the 11 districts in Mangu local government, 9 have no Fulani men in them.
A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has said that the electoral body must give an explanation to Nigerians over the failure of the commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IreV) and the Bimodal Voter Registration Systems (BVAS) during the 2023 general elections.
Jega blamed desperate politicians for disrupting the voting system by allegedly infiltrating the two technological systems introduced by INEC.
The political scientist stated this during an appearance on Channels Television on Friday.
Jega insisted that though INEC meant well, some politicians circumvented the whole IreV and BVAS systems.
Unknown gunmen have reportedly kidnapped the Lagos State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Philip Aivoji.
Naija News learned that Aivoji was kidnapped at the Ogere area along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway around 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2024.
According to Nigeria Tribune, the abductors have demanded N200 million ransom, and another member of the Lagos State PDP exco, who was said to have escaped from being kidnapped, is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
Confirming the incident to Daily Trust, the spokesperson of Lagos PDP, Hakeem Amode, said Aivoji was kidnapped while returning from the PDP South-West Zonal meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
In a bold legislative move, the Rivers State House of Assembly has overridden Governor Siminalayi Fubara‘s decision and passed four new bills into law.
This significant action took place during the plenary session on Friday at the House of Assembly Quarters.
The move came after the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, read out four letters from Governor Fubara in which he declined to give his assent to the new bills previously sent to him.
In a decisive response, the House invoked Section 100 subsection 5 of the constitution, which stipulates that the governor’s assent is not necessary for a bill to become law under certain conditions.
The Presidency has replied to the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, over the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) $3.3 billion emergency crude repayment loan.
Naija News recalls that the repayment loan was secured on August 16, 2023, and was designed to bolster the naira and stabilize the foreign exchange market.
The transaction, arranged by the African Export-Import Bank, was not only intended to support the national currency but also to aid the Federal Government’s monetary and fiscal reforms.
Notably, three weeks ago, the Federal Government received $2.25 billion of the $3.3 billion foreign exchange facility from the bank.
The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, has said he is willing to work with the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNP), Rabiu Kwankwaso.
In an interview with BBC Hausa on Friday, Ganduje revealed that invitations have been sent to both Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and the NNPP’s national leader, Kwankwaso.
The former Kano governor expressed confidence in his alliance with Kwankwaso despite their long-standing political rivalry.
He said: “Certainly, we share roots and lineage. A division occurred, and now (there is) a potential for reunification through divine intervention. what could be better?”
Ondo state deputy governor designate, Olajide Adelami, has said ‘divine providence’ orchestrated his appointment for the position in the state.
Naija News reports that Adelami, during his thank-you visit to traditional rulers in his hometown of Owo, the headquarters of the Owo Local Government area of the state, debunked claims of lobbying for the position.
He said he had been pursuing a federal appointment when Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa unexpectedly nominated him.
According to him, the latest development underscored the unexpected trajectory of his political journey, expressing appreciation to Aiyedatiwa, for considering him worthy of the position, despite his name not being among those speculated for the position.
Three infamous bandits were eliminated by Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command Special Intervention Squad members in a woodland in the Bwari neighbourhood of Abuja.
Naija News reports that the robbers were slain early on Friday, January 26, at around two in the morning, in a woodland that connected Abuja and Kaduna State.
The gang leader, Mai Gemu, also known as Godara, was one of the three bandits who were slain. He and his gang members had been terrorizing the Federal Capital Territory and neighbouring states.
The development in Abuja was disclosed on Friday by Force Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi during the procession of roughly twenty criminal detainees detained for various offenses across the nation.
The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on Strategy, Performance and Project Monitoring, Sarah Ajose-Adeogun, has resigned.
Naija News understands she resigned and confirmed it via a post on her Facebook page on Thursday.
Taking to the social media platform, Ajose-Adeogun wrote: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
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It is believed in some quarters that her resignation may be linked to the ongoing political conflict between Governor Obaseki and his Deputy, Philip Shaibu, over the 2024 governorship election in Edo.
