NIGERIAN DAILIES: FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS FRIDAY

Image Credit: Punch Newspaper

Hello and good morning! Here is today's Nigerian newspaper summary:

1. On Thursday in Abuja, the National Economic Council recommended the Federal Government to postpone the June deadline for the withdrawal of petroleum subsidies, pending a review of existing arrangements to offer palliatives for Nigerians.

2. President Muhammadu Buhari claims that over 60,000 soldiers were recruited during his tenure, and that his administration funded the military to improve the fighting power of the Nigerian Army. Buhari made the remarks during the Nigerian Army Trooping and Presentation of Colours Parade 2023, which took place on Thursday at Eagles Square in Abuja.

3. On Thursday in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari stated that while the All Progressives Congress, APC, worked hard to retain power in the 2023 general elections, opposition political parties failed owing to overconfidence. He also claimed that the opposition's overconfidence, complacency, and bad tactical tactics cost them their intended triumph and landed them in a post-election crisis.

4. The All Progressives Congress, APC, has distanced itself from the alleged zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership roles that have been shared on social media. According to a statement issued by the APC's national press secretary, Felix Morka, the party has yet to zone any post of the next National Assembly's leadership to any of the country's six geopolitical zones.

5. An Adamawa State high court yesterday ordered the Department of State Service (DSS) to immediately release three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters. Hon. Justice Christopher Dominic Mapeo, the presiding Judge, directed the DSS to release the applicants unconditionally and that any further imprisonment would be unconstitutional.

6. On Thursday, some Nigerian students fleeing the conflict in Sudan became trapped. The government said N150 million had been set aside to hire 40 buses to transport Nigerians from Sudan to Cairo, Egypt, where they would be airlifted back to Nigeria. However, some of the students being evacuated to safety described their ordeal.

7. The crisis engulfing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has deepened as the party's national vice chairman (North-West), Salihu Mohammed Lukman, filed a lawsuit against the party's national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, for alleged violations of the party's constitution.

8. Senator Smart Adeyemi of Kogi West Senatorial District and Shuaibu Abubakar, son of former Kogi State Governor, have petitioned the Federal High Court to overturn the recently concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for the selection of the party's candidate in the upcoming governorship election.

9. According to the Plateau State Police Command, ten people were killed after a fuel-laden tanker detonated at the Bauchi Road Junction in Jos, the state capital, on Thursday. Alabo Alfred, the command's spokesman, revealed this in a statement made accessible to press. According to Alfred, a tanker transporting Premium Motor Spirit lost control, crashed, and caught fire along the road.

10. Mohammed Abu, 38, was brought before the Ogba Magistrates' Court in the Ikeja region of Lagos State on Thursday for allegedly abducting two children, Juliana and Joy Jude, in the Alakuko area of the state. Superintendent of Police Kehinde Ajayi told the court that the defendant committed the crime on November 21, 2023.