Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Wednesday, 7th October, 2020

Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today Wednesday, 7th October 2020

1. Buhari Writes NASS, To Present 2021 Budget On Thursday

The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday, 8th October 2020, present the proposed 2021 budget figures to a joint sitting of the National Assembly.

This was confirmed in his letter of request to the lawmakers which was read on Tuesday during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, in Abuja.

The letter reads: “May I crave the kind indulgence of the Distinguished Senate to grant me the slot of 11:00hrs on Thursday, 8th October, 2020, to formally present the 2021 Appropriation bill to the Joint Session of the National Assembly.

“While I look forward to addressing the Joint session, please, accept Mr. Senate President, the assurances of my highest regard.”

Naija News recalls the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had last week Wednesday, approved a N13.08 trillion national budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

2. US Warns Nigeria Against Violence During Ondo Governorship Election

The United States has urged all stakeholders to continue to work for free and fair elections in Ondo State.

It called on all stakeholders in the democratic process, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, and security agencies to take the necessary steps to ensure peaceful elections in the interests of the people of Ondo State.

The Electoral Commission has set Saturday, October 10, for the gubernatorial election in Ondo State. The US Embassy in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, October 6, also called on all stakeholders to continue working to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

The statement reads: “The United States urges all stakeholders to continue to work toward free, fair, transparent, and peaceful elections in Ondo State.

“We reiterate our hope that all participants in the democratic process, including the INEC, political parties, and the security services, will take concrete steps to ensure a peaceful election that reflects the will of the people of Ondo.

“The United States remains committed to the U.S.-Nigeria partnership as we work together to achieve our mutual goals of peace and prosperity for the citizens of both our countries.”

3. Focus On Boko Haram, Leave Ondo Election – Borno Gov Tells Army

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State has asked the Nigerian military to forget about domestic election and focus on the war against Boko Haram terrorists.

He stated this while speaking at the opening ceremony of the combined Chief of Army Staff Quarterly Conference in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Tuesday.

Naija News reports that the Ondo State governorship election will hold on Saturday, October 10, 2020.

Speaking at the event, Zulum expressed surprise with the comments of the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, while urging the military to concentrate more on its counter-insurgency operation in the North-East.

He said: “When the Chief of Army talked about the success story of Edo election and forthcoming Ondo poll, I was a bit scared because I want the attention of the Nigeria Military to be in the forefront fighting the insurgency.”

According to the Borno governor, the army needs to carry out confidence-building and confidence-sharing with the communities where they are currently carrying out various operations.

Governor Zulum charged the army to embark on the clinical clearance of Boko Haram remnants.

He also urged the Nigeria military to the the battle to the doorstep of Boko Haram insurgents.

Zulum stated that he was ready to commend the miltary whenever it records successes and criticise anytime it acted wrongly.

4. I Can Never Advise Or Pray For Buhari – Lamido Declares

Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido has declared that he can never enter the mosque to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari.

He also added that he can’t advise the President on how to run the affairs of Nigeria.

Explaining the reasons behind his submission, Lamido said Buhari once labelled him and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as thieves.

“I am from an opposition party, no matter how much I love Buhari or his cabinet, I can’t enter mosque and pray for him.

“People called us [PDP] thieves and voted APC

“So, it is left for them to judge now.

“If Buhari is doing good, they know and let him lead Nigeria forever, but if he is doing wrong, we are always there to come and takeover in order to do the right thing,” he was quoted by Daily Trust to have said in an interview with BBC Hausa.

He added that it is left to Nigerians to evaluate the difference between the performances of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP which they voted out of office in 2015.

5. WTO: European Union Approves Okonjo-Iweala’s Nomination

Representatives of countries in the European Union have approved the choice of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Naija News understands that the approval was given by the European Union General Assembly.

Quoting sources familiar with the matter, the news agency reports that the country representatives also agreed to support Yoo Myung-hee, South Korea’s candidate.

At present, the eight candidates that expressed interest in the WTO job have been reduced to five candidates by WTO member countries.

The second phase of consultations which began on September 24 will end in October.

During this time, members will be asked in the confidential consultations to express two preferences to the facilitators thus reducing the number of candidates from five to two.

Other candidates in the race are Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya, Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Liam Fox of the United Kingdom.

Jesus Seade Kuri of Mexico, Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt were eliminated from the process.

It is expected that the next WTO DG will be announced on November 7.

6. Prophet Sotitobire Sent To Life Imprisonment Over Missing Child In His Church

A high court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Tuesday, 6th October 2020, sentenced Prophet Babatunde Alfa (Sotitobire), founder of Sotitobire Praising Chapel to life imprisonment in the case of a child that went missing in his church last year.

The prophet was found guilty alongside five others on two- count charges bordering on kidnapping, aiding and abetting to kidnap preferred against them.

Justice Olusegun Odusola who presided over the case of a one-year-old child, Gold Kolawole who went missing from the prophet’s church in 2019, found the accused guilty of charges preferred against them.

Other defendants jailed alongside the cleric were Omodara Olayinka, Margaret Oyebola, Grace Ogunjobi, Egunjobi Motunrayo, and Esther Kayode.

The missing child has not been found since he went missing from the church, the parents accused the prophet of complexity in the matter and dragged him before a court of law.

Gold went missing on November 10 2019 during the Sunday service in the church after his mother, Mrs Modupe Kolawole dropped him at the children’s department of the church which is located at the Oshinle Quarters area of Akure, the Ondo State capital.

7. #EndSARS: Nigerians Can Take Pictures, Videos Of Bad Police Act And Send To Us – Frank Mba

The Nigerian Police has noted that Nigerians should feel free to record, or take pictures whenever they feel a police officer is erring in the line of his duty.

This was made known by the Police Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, during a live Instagram chat with Nigerian Singer, Naira Marley in the early hours of Tuesday.

Recall that following the cancellation of a mass protest scheduled by Nigerian Music artiste, Naira Marley, the Nigerian Police Force announced that it would have a live Instagram chat with the singer by 11 am.

According to MBA, Nigerians are free to record as long as they are safe.

He however stated that in various places around the world, restrictions as placed on take pictures or doing videos, due to the sensitivity of such places, and in order to keep criminals away.

He added that examples of such places in Nigeria are the airports.

8. We Have Solved APC Problem In 11 States – Mai Mala Buni

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) says it has solved its major problems in 11 troubled states.

Naija News recalls that the ruling APC has long been embroiled in internal strife at the federal and state levels, The leadership crisis has led to the suspension of the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

The caretaker chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mai Mala Buni at the swearing-in ceremony of the reconciliation committee in Abuja said the crisis had now been resolved in some of the states.

Buni on Tuesday swore in the mediation and campaign committee for the central and western Bayelsa State senate. Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, will chair the committee sworn in by Buni.

Although he did not name the states, Buni said they had succeeded in bringing back senior APC members into the party because of their compromise.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, is the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee while Barrister Ekemini Cletus Udoh is given the position of Secretary.

9. Npower: FG Offer Way Out For Beneficiaries To Get Their Stipends

Beneficiaries under the N-Power Programme who were omitted from the payment of their stipends have been directed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to report to their state focal persons for verification and revalidation.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, made this call on Tuesday.

Umar-Farouq in her statement noted that issues dealing with stipends of some beneficiaries in batch A and B are almost being concluded.

The Minister further stated that investigations carried out by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation following the omission of some N-Power beneficiaries from payment of stipends revealed that some were receiving salaries from other Federal Government agencies.

She disclosed that opportunity has been given to the affected beneficiaries to verify and re-validate their eligibility so that qualified beneficiaries could be paid for their participation in the N-Power Programme.

She said the deadline for verification would be October 13, 2020.

The minister said beneficiaries who fail to attend the verification exercise would forfeit their stipends.

10. Why Ondo Election Will Be Better Than Edo – INEC

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has promised that the Ondo election will be better than the governorship election in Edo.

He stated this on Monday during the INEC Stakeholders’ meeting for the Ondo Governorship Election.

The INEC Chairman stated that with the success recorded in Edo State, the commission can’t afford to low the bar in Ondo State come Saturday.

According to Yakubu, some lapses identified in the Edo election will be frontally tackled in Ondo.

He said: “We identified 16 areas of improvement, including logistics, prompt response to Smart Card Reader glitches on Election Day, the menace of vote-buying during elections and compliance with COVID-19 protocols.

“In response, we have engaged with land and maritime transport owners for forward and reverse logistics to and from land and riverine locations.

“We have engaged an additional 104 Registration Area Technical Support (RATECHS) staff to respond rapidly to issues with Card Readers on Election Day. We had useful discussions with the security agencies and anti-corruption agencies on how to deal with vote-buying during elections.”

That’s the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naija News. See you again tomorrow.