TEN THINGS TO KNOW THIS MORNING, ON FRIDAY, NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS

Image Credit: Punch news 

Happy morning! The summary from Nigerian Newspapers for today is as follows:

1. On Thursday, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, dashed the hopes of proponents of a government of national unity by stating that competence should take precedence over such a political arrangement. He claimed that, rather than seeking a government of national competence, his goal was higher than a government of national unity and that he would not appoint cabinet members on the basis of their religion.

2. The Indigenous People of Biafra have rejected the IEP Global Terrorism Index Report of 2022, claiming it is the result of a plot by the Federal Government and some other foreign organizations to intimidate and demonize the group. The pro-Biafran group was responding to the Institute for Economics and Peace assessment, which ranked it as the tenth-most deadly terror organization.

3. Naja'atu Mohammed, a supporter of Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for president in the election of February 25, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of orchestrating a vote-rigging scheme to favor Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress. She also criticized Buhari for what she claimed to be his abuse of the law, flagrant corruption, and other vices that have characterized government over the previous eight years.

4. Dr. Seye Dairo, the campaign director general for Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, aka Jandor, the People's Democratic Party's (PDP) candidate for governor of Lagos State, has resigned. Dairo announced his resignation in a letter but provided no explanation for the decision.

5. On Thursday in the Bakin Ruwa Area of the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, security personnel attached to the convoy of Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai are suspected of having killed four people.

6. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday denied awarding Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for governor of Adamawa State, a contract for the printing of sensitive election materials. The commission denied rumors that it had given the contract to a candidate for governor's family-owned business.

7. According to the Benue State Police Command, six people have been detained for various electoral offenses related to the recently completed presidential and National Assembly elections. The suspects were detained for unlawful possession of firearms, stealing ballot boxes, and illegal possession of nine Permanent Voters' Cards, according to command spokesperson SP Catherine Anene, who made this known in a statement made available to journalists (PVCs).

8. The National Peace Committee (NPC) and former president Goodluck Jonathan have urged calm and warned politicians against do-or-die politics as the country heads to the polls for the governorship and state assembly elections. General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the chairman of the NPC, stated in a statement that the call was necessary due to the open intimidation and violence threats made by some members of the community.

9. Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party's (LP) presidential candidate, criticized the February 25 election as the worst since Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and a setback for democracy. As he appeared yesterday on a national television program, he made this statement and indicated that he was adamantly disputing the election's process and the proclamation that Bola Tinubu of the APC had won.

10. A fraud ring made up of eight men has been charged by the Lagos State Police Command in the Federal High Court for allegedly breaking into the server of an online platform called ITEX Integrated Services Limited and stealing N435.3 million.