Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The National Economic Council, on Thursday, in Abuja, asked the Federal Government to put the June deadline for petroleum subsidy removal on hold, pending the review of existing plans to provide palliatives for Nigerians.
2. President Muhammadu Buhari says over 60,000 soldiers were recruited under his watch, saying his administration funded the military to ensure an increase in the fighting power of the Nigerian Army. Buhari said this at the Nigerian Army Trooping and Presentation of Colours Parade 2023 on Thursday, at Eagles Square in Abuja.
3. President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, in Abuja, said while the All Progressives Congress, APC, worked hard to retain power in the 2023 general elections, opposition political parties lost due to overconfidence. He also argued that a blend of overconfidence, complacency and poor tactical moves cost the opposition their desired victory and sank them into a post-election crisis.
4. The All Progressives Congress, APC, has distanced itself from the purported zoning arrangements for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions being circulated on social media. In a statement signed by the APC national publicity secretary, Felix Mork, the party said it had yet to zone any position of the incoming 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 release 3 supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with immediate effect. The presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Christopher Dominic Mapeo, ordered the DSS to release the applicants unconditionally and that any further detention would be illegal.
6. Some Nigerian students escaping the unrest in Sudan got stranded on Thursday. The government had said N150m was released for hiring 40 buses to convey some Nigerians from Sudan to Cairo in Egypt, from where they would be airlifted to Nigeria. But some of the students being evacuated to safety shared bitter experiences about the journey.
7. The crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has worsened as the party’s national vice chairman (North-West), Salihu Mohammed Lukman yesterday sued the national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu over alleged abuse of the party’s constitution.
8. Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Smart Adeyemi and a son of former Kogi State Governor, Shuaibu Abubakar have approached the Federal High Court to nullify the just concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for the selection of the party’s candidate in the forthcoming governorship election.
9. The Plateau State Police Command on Thursday said 10 persons died when a fuel-laden tanker exploded at the Bauchi Road Junction in Jos, the state capital. The spokesman for the command, Alabo Alfred, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists. Alfred said a tanker conveying Premium Motor Spirit lost control, crashed and burst into flames along the road.
10. A 38-year-old man, Mohammed Abu, was on Thursday arraigned before the Ogba Magistrates’ Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, for allegedly abducting two children, Juliana and Joy Jude, in the Alakuko area of the state. The police prosecutor, Superintendent of Police, Kehinde Ajayi, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on April 21, 2023.
