Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Sunday, 29th January, 2023

Good morning Nigeria, welcome to the Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Sunday, 29th January 2023.

Buhari Speaks On New Naira Notes As CBN Deadline Draws Nearer

President Muhammadu Buhari has given reasons why the government decided to replace the old naira notes with the new ones.

Speaking on Saturday in a statement by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said the new naira notes were introduced to stop illicit funds, prevent counterfeits, corruption, and terrorist funding.

President Buhari added that the government policy was not designed to harm or cause hardship for the common man but to stabilize and strengthen the economy.

While acknowledging the hardship Nigerians have been facing in trying to swap the old notes for the new ones before the January 31st deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), President Buhari assured that the apex bank is working with the commercial banks on initiatives to stop the long queues and prevent chaos over the distribution of the new naira notes.

Umahi, Uzodinma, Others Shun Soludo’s Invite For Southeast Conference

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and other Southeast governors have shunned the zone’s regional conference on human capital development, hosted by Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

Naija News reports that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Uzodinma and Umahi all sent representatives to the two-day conference held in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

The conference had the theme: changing the narrative – towards entrenching human capital development in Southeast Nigeria.

Speaking at the summit, Governor Soludo slammed Southeast leaders for their lack of unity.

While calling for a regional education board to fashion out a curriculum for the region, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that the Southeast could come together and set up a teacher certification institute to certify teachers for schools in the region.

On education, labour and health, Soludo said they could be adopted by the governors of the region to grow human capital.

He maintained that the Southeast could not afford to lag in the area of human capital development, adding that Anambra had the least land mass in the country, and also the least natural resources.

Why Adeleke Will Remain As Osun Gov Despite Tribunal Sacking Him

The Osun governorship election petition tribunal on Friday sacked Ademola Adeleke as the state governor.
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola had petitioned the tribunal to challenge the victory of Adeleke in the July 16 2022 election.

Oyetola had asked to be declared as the winner of the governorship election, claiming that there was overvoting in 749 polling units across 10 LGAs of the state.

Delivering the judgment on Friday, two out of a three-member panel of the tribunal held that the petitioner was able to prove that there was over-voting in some of the polling units.

The tribunal, thereafter, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Adeleke and issue a fresh one to Oyetola as the elected governor of Osun.

Ortom, Ikpeazu, Ugwuanyi Inaugurate Peter Obi Campaign Team As Atiku’s Men Adopt New Strategies

To avoid sanction for anti-party activities, the G5 governors have reportedly instructed their loyalists to begin ‘underground’ work for their preferred presidential candidate ahead of next month’s general election.

Naija News reports that the G5 governors – Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia, and Samuel Ortom of Benue – have refused to back the presidential campaign of Atiku Abubakar.

The five aggrieved governors have demanded the resignation or removal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as a condition for supporting the party’s presidential campaign.

Although the governors are believed to be working for two rival candidates, their inability to agree on which particular candidate to support, it was gathered, is partly responsible for the low spate activities in their ranks in recent times.

According to The PUNCH, Atiku’s loyalists in Benue State, including former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam, were busy reaching out to party faithful in their strongholds to drum up support for him.

Sacked Gov Adeleke Writes Letter To INEC, Tables Fresh Request

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to issue a Certificate of Return to Gboyega Oyetola.

Naija News reports that Adeleke made the request following a judgement by the election tribunal.

Recall that the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal chaired had on Friday sacked the Osun Governor.

The ruling was given by a three-men panel led by Justice Tertse Kume.

The majority judgement of two judges against one ordered that the Certificate of Return should be withdrawn from Adeleke and issued to Adegboyega Oyetola.

The majority judgement which was read by the Chairman, Justice Tertse Kume said Oyetola scored the majority lawful votes of 314, 921 against Adeleke’s 290, 266.

But in a letter to the electoral umpire Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Adeleke urged INEC not to issue the certificate of return to Oyetola pending the outcome of his appeal.

Naira Redesign: Atiku Makes Demands On Old Naira Deadline

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded a slight extension to the January 31, 2023 deadline, given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the swapping of old Naira notes in commercial banks across the country.

Naija News reports that the former vice president made the assertion in a video via his verified Twitter page, titled, “My position on the CBN January 31st deadline on the new Naria notes”.

He expressed concern over the challenge faced by millions of Nigerians, especially those in rural communities in meeting up with the deadline announced by CBN.

While applauding the monetary conversion policy as a worldwide practice, Atiku stressed that the deadline is unfit and should be slightly adjusted.

Speaking further, Atiku Abubakar said the proposed deadline will cause heavy discomfort for Nigerians and a slight extension of the Naira notes swapping will ease the burden while the CBN continues to sensitize the public on the imperative of mobile banking policy.

Mock Accreditation: INEC Announces 436 Polling Units

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 436 polling units have been selected across Nigeria for the mock accreditation exercise ahead of the 2023 general election.

The mock accreditation exercise which is scheduled to commence on February 4, will be used as a medium to train and retrain INEC’s ad-hoc staff.

Also, the exercise will be used to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which will be used throughout the general elections.

Twelve polling units in six Local Government Areas (two LGAs in each of the 109 Senatorial districts) and two Local Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory made up the 436 polling units that will be used for the exercise.

A list of polling units has been made accessible on the commission’s official website.

On the other hand, it is anticipated that the collection of Permanent Voters Cards, which were returned to the offices of the commission at the local government level, will end across Nigeria on Sunday, January 29.

2023: ‘Why Tinubu Met With Buhari In Daura’

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and some governors of the ruling party on Friday met with President Muhammadu Buhari.
Naija News had earlier reported that Tinubu and the governors met with Buhari in Daura, the president’s hometown in Katsina State.

Tinubu’s meeting with President Buhari is coming days after his outburst during the APC presidential rally in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, on Wednesday.

Recall that Tinubu said the naira redesign and petrol scarcity were designed to frustrate his chances in the presidential election.

The APC presidential campaign council, however, said Tinubu did not blame Buhari for the situation, but only sought to warn him of saboteurs working for the PDP.

A source that spoke with Daily Trust regarding the meeting said revealed the governors accompanied Tinubu to the meeting.

IGP Usman Alkali Calls For Arrest Of PCRC ID Card Holders

The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has directed that anyone found flaunting the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) Identity Card that has been deemed invalid must be detained and prosecuted.

The IGP declared that all the PCRC ID card in circulation was invalid beginning in December 2022.

According to a statement issued by the Force’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Saturday, the IGP gave this directive to clean up and standardize the operations of the PCRC.

The statement noted that the IGP had also directed the Force Headquarters in Abuja to redesign and reissue new PCRC ID cards, as well as to conduct careful membership screening across the board.

In line With the new development, the police chief has directed eligible members of the “PCRC nationwide to contact the offices of the various Zonal, Command, and Formations PCRC Chairmen as well as the Police Public Relations Officers (PPROs) of their Zones, Commands, and Formations respectively to obtain new forms for processing the newly approved ID Card”.

What is PCRC?

The Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) was founded in 1984, and its main goal was to improve links between the police force and local communities. This will consequently improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policing in Nigerian communities.

The PCRC has a similar organizational structure to the Nigerian police force. As a result, they have, among other things, state commands, national components, and area commands. Despite being prevalent in various states of Nigeria, PCRC is most well-known in Lagos State.

APC’s Plan To Sabotage 2023 Election Will Fail – LP Campaign

The Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council has claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is planning to subvert the rule of law and deny Nigerians the right to choose their next leader.

Recall that Tinubu, during the APC presidential campaign held at the MKO Abiola stadium in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Wednesday, said there was a plan to sabotage the forthcoming elections and scuttle his victory with the lingering fuel crisis and the redesign of the naira.

However, the Director, Media and Publicity of APC PCC, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the notion that the comment of the ruling party’s candidate was targeted at the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Onanuga, in a statement on Thursday, said Tinubu was only directing the government’s attention to the sabotage being carried out by “some fifth columnists in the system, possibly working in cahoots with the PDP”.

Reacting, the spokesman for the Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko, said it is only the ruling party that was planning to sabotage the coming election and the wish of Nigerians.

Tanko said the statement by Onanuga is damage control, stressing that Nigerians have seen that the ruling party intendsto manipulate the system against the people’s will and subvert the rule of law.

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