TOP 10 NEWS MAKING THE ROUNDS IN NIGERIA TODAY THURSDAY 

TOP 10 NEWS MAKING THE ROUNDS IN NIGERIA TODAY THURSDAY 

1. Buhari Swears In New Perm Secs Few Days To End Of Tenure

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday swore in six newly appointed Federal Permanent Secretaries.

The fresh appointment by President Buhari before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is coming a few days before the end of his tenure.

They are Adam Mahmud Kambari (Borno State), Esuabana Nko Asanye (Cross River State), Lamuwa Adamu Ibrahim (Gombe), Yakubu Adam Kofar-Mata (Kano State), Oloruntola Olufemi Michael (Ogun State) and Richard Pheelangwah (Taraba State).

President Buhari on Wednesday congratulated the new permanent Secretaries on their appointment.

2. I Have Been Able To Run For Office Because Unlike Tinubu I Have No Drugs And Identity Scandals – Atiku

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has stated that the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, as the President-elect is unlawful and against the provisions of the constitution.

Atiku noted that he has been able to run for the presidency without any controversy because unlike Tinubu he has no drugs and identity scandals.

The former Vice President stated this on Wednesday while responding to Tinubu and APC’s reply to his petition challenging the process and the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

The PDP flag bearer argued that there has never been any controversy concerning his age, state of origin and educational qualifications unlike the President-elect.

The former vice-president maintained that Tinubu is constitutionally disabled from contesting for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

3. Tinubu Moves Out Of Private Home Ahead Of Presidential Inauguration

The President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu has relocated from his private residence in the Asokoro area of Abuja to a temporary official residence at the Defence House in Maitama ahead of his swearing on May 29.

According to the spokesman of the defunct All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council, Festus Keyamo, the former Lagos governor has arrived at the Defense House which will be his official residence until May 29th.

Keyamo tweeted on Wednesday saying, “The President Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABATearlier today arrived at the Defence House Maitama, Abuja which is the official residence of all President-elects before they move into the Villa after inauguration. Whilst there, he’ll get daily security briefings and he’ll go through the dress rehearsal for inauguration. May 29th loading.”

4. Sudan: N560 Million Spent To Evacuate Nigerians – FG Claims

President Muhammadu Buhari’s government disclosed on Wednesday that $1.2 million (about N560 million when converted to Nigerian currency) had been spent to evacuate Nigerians stranded in Sudan to safe places by road.

This is as the federal government make further arrangements to repatriate the citizens back home.

Giving an update on the evacuation process on Wednesday (today), the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, told State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that no Nigerian had died in the fight between military factions in Sudan so far.

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“We are confident we shall not lose any life in this exercise to evacuate stranded Nigerians,” Daily Trust quoted the Minister saying.

Dada said the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and staff of the Nigerian commission in Egypt and Ethiopia are currently on the ground at the Egyptian border in Aswan to receive close to 40 luxury buses conveying Nigerians who had left the Sudanese capital, Khartoum by road.

Speaking further, the Minister said the Saudi Arabia government had already assisted in evacuating some Nigerians through the sea, a development he said was commended by the federal government.

5. Peter Obi Knocks INEC For Alleged Partiality

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been slammed for allegedly being biased.

It was gathered from Channels Television that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi knocked the electoral umpire on Wednesday for it’s submission at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

According to Obi, the commission was allegedly partial in its preliminary objection before the court, while claiming that the commission appeared to be in support of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu.

He condemned the commission for filing a preliminary objection against the petition he lodged against the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the presidential election.

While faulting the commission for allegedly supporting Tinubu, Obi said both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal had in the past cautioned INEC to place itself in a place of neutrality, remain fair and focused.

6. Court Rules On APC’s Binani Suit Over Adamawa Gubernatorial Election

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit filed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in Adamawa State, Senator Aisha Dahiru Ahmed (Binani).

Recall that Binani had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking a judicial review of the electoral umpire’s decision to reverse her earlier announcement as the winner of the election by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari.

At the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, Binani’s lawyer informed the court about the notice of discontinuance filed by the plaintiff and prayed the court to strike out the suit.

But, in a ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo elected to dismiss the suit.

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7. Ebonyi Election Petition Tribunal Relocated To Abuja

The Ebonyi State Election Petition Tribunal has been directed to relocate to Federal Capital Territory Abuja with immediate effect.

Chief Judge of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Mensem, gave the directive, Naija News understands.

In a chat with reporters on Wednesday in Abakaliki, the state capital, the Secretary of the Tribunal, Nyior Henry Sekulla, said all petitions and processes relating to matters before the tribunal will now be heard in Abuja.

Sekulla said that following the directive, the election petition tribunal office at the Ebonyi State Judiciary Headquarters in Abakaliki has been shut down.

8. ‘It’s Baseless’ – Timipre Sylva Reacts To Timi Frank’s Allegation Of Certificate Forgery And Identity Theft

The immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has replied a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, over an issue of alleged certificate forgery and identity theft.

Frank, in a petition signed by his lawyer and Principal Partner of Graylaw Practice LP, Edward Omaga Esq., requested the National Assembly to summon Slyva to explain the inconsistencies in his identity.

Frank also called on the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS) to probe the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources over alleged certificate forgery and identity theft.

He had alleged that Sylva’s primary school certificate carried his name as Anagha Timipere as evident in documents the former minister filed before a court in the United States as part of an ongoing defamation suit brought by his lawyers.

Frank explained that on different certificates obtained by Slyva, there are different names on them.

However, reacting to Frank’s allegation, Sylva’s Senior Adviser on Media and Communications, Horatius Egua, dismissed the allegations, describing the petition as “baseless.”

According to him , his principal is not ready to join issues with him because he is serving the interest of his pay masters.

9. Fleeing INEC REC Breaks Silence, Reveals How Binani ‘Won’ Adamawa Guber Election

The fleeing suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, has revealed why he controversially announced the Adamawa State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aisha Dahiru Binani, as the winner of the election.

Hudu explained his role in the announced in a letter he sent to the Nigeria Police and also copied the director-general of the State Security Service (SSS), National Security Adviser (NSA), and the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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In the letter, the REC, who is in hiding, accused two national commissioners, Baba Bila and Abdullahi Zuru, who had been tasked to assist him with the supplementary election on March 15, of secretly working with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the results.

Yunusa Ari, a legal practitioner, said he belatedly uncovered that the INEC officials held secret meetings with Governor Ahmadu Fintiri at the Government House Yola at about 8:31 p.m. on Friday, the night before the election, where they perfected plans to change the collation officers and alter the election results.

Aru said that on election day, the state’s commissioner of police furnished him with findings of a plot that exposed how some politicians had hired Boko Haram terrorists to snatch ballot boxes and disrupt the polls.

According to him, in an update the same day, the police said the security threats were still high as the insurgents had planned to attack various local governments to disrupt collation.

He said he was then advised to move the collation from local government areas to the state’s INEC headquarters, he said in the four-page letter.

10. Tinubu, Adamu Hold Closed-Door Meeting At Defence House

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, on Wednesday, met with the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu at the Defence House in Abuja.

Tinubu’s meeting with the APC Chairman is coming days after he returned to Nigeria from France.

The President-elect had travelled out of the country for a month after the presidential and governorship election in the country.

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Tinubu media office stated that he needed to rest from political activities and plan for his inauguration scheduled for the 29th of May, 2023.

Others in attendance at the meeting which was held behind closed doors are the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan; the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; APC National Publicity Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore and former Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Hon James Faleke.

The APC National Chairman while speaking at the end of the meeting said the meeting is a routine exercise.

He, however, did not reveal the detail of the meeting with the President-elect and some leaders of the ruling party.