Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Naijaonpoint roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Monday, 20th May 2024
President Bola Tinubu has appointed his special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, as the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action.
The presidential spokesperson will serve in this role as part of a larger Presidential Committee, to be chaired by Tinubu.
According to a State House statement on Sunday by the Director, Information & Public Relations, Segun Imohiosen, the development is part of the strategic move by President Tinubu to ensure the advancement of his administration’s climate and green economic initiatives.
The Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions, established by the President, will coordinate and oversee all policies and programmes on climate action and green economic development.
This is to remove the constraints to coordination, foster a whole-of-government approach to climate-action programmes, provide an efficient governance architecture, and ensure that all relevant institutions in the sector are plugged into the President’s vision and are collectively implementing the Renewed Hope Agenda on climate action.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, on Sunday called on President Bola Tinubu to recapitalise and nationalise the electricity sector to boost the country’s economic growth and industrial development.
Speaking during an interview with newsmen, Okechukwu described the privatisation of the electricity sector as a disaster.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to recapitalise and nationalise the electricity sector to promote economic growth and industrial development in the country.
The APC stalwart insisted that privatising the sector would increase energy prices, cause job losses, and result in factory closures.
He opined that the only way to save the sector and the country’s economy is to recapitalise and restructure it.
Okechukwu urged President Tinubu to borrow a leaf from Albert Einstein’s maxim, that it would amount to insanity to continue expending public funds along profiteering “oligopolies” and hope to get commensurate electricity output.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, has revealed that the Federal Government is set to launch national policies and guidelines on organ transplants owing to several cases involving unethical practices in organ donation and transplantation.
Naijaonpoint reports that Pate made this known on Saturday during the Living Kidney Donor Day event organised by Nisa Medical Group in Abuja.
Pate, who was represented by the Head of the Trauma and Emergency Disaster Response Division, Department of Hospital Services, Kamil Shoretire, said 843.6 million persons around the globe were suffering from chronic kidney diseases as of 2017.
He stated that new national guidelines on organ transplants would soon be introduced while expressing concerns about the increasing cases of kidney problems and unethical practices in organ transplants in the country.
The minister also stressed that the FG is committed to the health initiative and commends the Nisa Medical Group for its initiative to prevent kidney-related health issues among the people.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has reacted after the Federal Government ignored the union’s ultimatum to reconstitute the governing councils of universities across the country and released a list of new members for 111 tertiary institutions.
Naijaonpoint reported that President Bola Tinubu had last week approved the appointments of 555 persons to serve as Pro-chancellors/Chairmen and members of the Governing Boards of 111 Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
An advertorial signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, showed the appointment of a chairperson and four members for each institution.
The advertorial stated that the Inaugural/Retreat for the Chairmen and Members of the Governing Councils of Tertiary Institutions will take place on Thursday, May 30th, and Friday, May 31st, 2024.
Reacting to the development, the ASUU President, in an interview with PUNCH, said the Federal Government was expected to reinstate the ‘illegally’ dissolved governing councils and not to constitute new ones.
Osodeke also stated that the union’s demand was not limited to the dissolved governing councils of tertiary institutions, adding that the Federal Government should implement other ASUU requests.
The Federal Government has reacted to the planned alliance between Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
Recall that Obi held a private meeting with Atiku and other PDP stakeholders in Abuja last week.
He also met separately with former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
This led to speculation about a possible alliance in the upcoming 2027 general elections.
On Friday, Atiku stated that if the PDP decided in 2027 that it was the South-East’s turn to field the presidential candidate and selected Obi, he would readily offer his support.
Reacting to the development, the Presidency said that President Bola Tinubu is not bothered about the planned alliance, stressing he will not be losing sleep over the development.
They noted that Tinubu is more concerned about fulfilling his promise to Nigerians.
According to Punch, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said anybody could decide to collaborate and meet.
He insisted that the question, for him, was what happened after the talk and numerous meetings.
The minister stressed that Tinubu’s works would speak for him in the next election cycle in 2027.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has urged the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, to constitute reconciliation committees that would unite aggrieved members of the party nationwide.
The speaker noted that a deliberate move to woo aggrieved members of the APC would augur well for the party.
He stated this while speaking at the APC stakeholders’ meeting for the North-West zone in Kaduna on Sunday.
Tajudeen argued that some members of the APC are not happy, hence efforts must be made to bring them back to the fold.
Speaker Abbas also urged Ganduje to use his office to address the high turnover rate of National Assembly members, saying APC members who perform well should be allowed to return in 2027.
The Nigerian Army’s intervention has resulted in the rescue of 386 individuals, mostly women and children, from the Sambisa forest, a decade after their abduction.
The acting GOC 7 Division, Brig. Gen. AGL Haruna, disclosed this while addressing reporters on the outskirts of Sambisa forest in Konduga LGA, following the return of the troops who carried out the 10-day operation.
Haruna explained that the operation, dubbed “Operation Desert Sanity III,” aimed to eliminate all categories of terrorists from the Sambisa forest and offer those willing to surrender a chance to do so.
Addressing the troops, the GOC praised their conduct and professionalism throughout the operation and encouraged them to uphold their high standards.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) conducted a successful operation in Lagos, resulting in the arrest of four syndicate members.
Naijaonpoint gathered that a Sports Utility Vehicle was seized during the raid, and authorities moved to forfeit two houses associated with the suspects to the federal government.
In light of this development, the NDLEA has identified a couple, Kazeem Omogoriola Owoalade (alias Abdul Qassim Adisa Balogun) and Rashidat Ayinke Owoalade (alias Bolarinwa Rashidat Ayinke), as wanted individuals for their alleged involvement in a cocaine cartel based in India.
Among the apprehended members of the syndicate are Imran Taofeek Olalekan and Ishola Isiaka Olalekan, who were detained on April 3, 2024, while attempting to smuggle 3.40kg of cocaine on a Qatar Airlines flight bound for Oman via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja, Lagos.
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has dissolved the transition committees of all 21 local government areas in the state, effective Monday, May 20.
Naijaonpoint reports that the affected chairmen have been directed to hand over the affairs of their respective councils to the Heads of Local Government Administrations (HLGAs).
This move follows the expiration of the tenure of the transition committee chairmen and comes amidst mounting public pressure for local government elections in the state.
This was contained in a letter signed by the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Collins Nwabunwanne, dated May 17, and cited by The Nation.
The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the last Imo off-cycle gubernatorial election, Senator Athan Achonu, has expressed confidence that the judiciary will cancel the re-election of Governor Hope Uzodinma and order a rerun.
Naijaonpoint reports that Achonu asserted during a special thanksgiving service and prayer request session at the Holy Trinity Parish, Maitama, Abuja, on Sunday.
He recounted his personal experience of violence during the election, including an assassination attempt on his life and the abduction of his cousin, John Chima.
Achonu hailed the dedication of his legal team, who he said had established an excellent case before the election petitions tribunal, citing ‘straightforward’ evidence of electoral irregularities.
He also recalled the courage of women in the face of political intimidation, referencing the INEC returning officer in Abia state, Prof. Nnenna Oti, who resisted pressure to manipulate election results.
Achonu expressed faith in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a democrat who would not interfere with the election petition courts.
He added that he had been praying for divine intervention in the Imo State election saga, including the release of his cousin and the repose of the soul of a party leader who was murdered.