Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Thursday, 7th September, 2023

Good morning Nigeria, welcome to the Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Thursday, 7th September 2023.

1. Presidential Tribunal Affirms Tinubu As President

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu has been declared as the rightful winner of the electoral process.

Naija News understands that the Presidential Election Petitions Court on Wednesday gave the verdict.

Tribunal, while ruling on whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was right to return Tinubu as the duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast, held that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar did not successfully prove his petition seeking to remove Tinubu from office.

The petition filed by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi was also struck out by the tribunal.

2. Tinubu Secures $14 Billion Investment Pledges From India Investors

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has secured nearly $14 billion of pledges from Indian investors for Nigeria at a meeting in India on Wednesday.

In a statement issued after the meeting by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu also seeks an economic cooperation pact with the South Asian nation.

Ngelale said India’s Jindal Steel and Power (JNSP.NS) has committed to pump $3 billion into Nigeria’s steel sector and Indorama Corp plans to invest an additional $8 billion to expand its petrochemical facility in the West African country.

He noted that Skipperseil Ltd’s founding Chairman Jitender Sachdeva and India’s Bharti Enterprises each pledged $1.6 billion over four years to build power generation plants and $700 million in Nigeria, respectively.

Ngelale said President Tinubu has approved a $1 billion partnership agreement with the Indian government to help the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria attain 40% self-sufficiency in local manufacturing and production of defence equipment in three years.

President Bola Tinubu, who will attend the G20 summit in New Delhi representing a guest country later this week, held talks with Indian investors under the Nigeria-India presidential roundtable and conference to mobilize global capital to develop infrastructure.

3. Atiku Fails To Remove Tinubu From Office As Tribunal Strikes Out Petition

The petition filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has been struck out.

Naija News understands that Atiku had filed the petition to contend the declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

Atiku had asked the tribunal to declare him as the winner of the presidential election.

However, on Wednesday his move to emerge president suffered another setback.

The head of the five-member bench, Haruna Tsammani on Wednesday while giving reason for striking out the petition, said that for a petitioner to successfully prove non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the petitioner must call witnesses to prove the acts of non-compliance and show that the acts affected the outcome of the election, says Mr Tsammani.

He said Atiku failed to call any of his polling unit agents who signed the polling unit results and witnessed what took place in their domains.

He said the few agents called by the petitioner were state and national agents.

The tribunal struck out several paragraphs of the petition he relied upon to push for Tinubu’s removal.

4. NLC Ends Warning Strike, Issues Fresh Directive To Workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday declared an end to its two-day warning strike and directed its members who participated in the strike to resume work on Thursday, September 7.

A statement by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero appreciated all affiliate unions, state councils, and members that participated in the warning strike.

According to him, the strike was necessary in order to call the attention of the government to the need to prioritize the welfare of workers.

Ajaero however revealed that the workers should get ready for an indefinite strike action if the federal government fails to take necessary action to curb the hardship brought about as a result of the fuel subsidy removal policy.

5. Tinubu Defeats Peter Obi, Labour Party In Election Tribunal

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday defeated Peter Obi and the Labour Party at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT).

The tribunal judges led by Justice Simon Tsammani dismissed all the petitions challenging the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the February 25th presidential election.

The Election Petition Labour ruled that the Party and Peter Obi, in their petition, could not establish their assertion that INEC must electronically transfer presidential election results.

The tribunal stated that the fraud case against President Tinubu brought by the Labour Party could not be proven, adding that the APC candidate was cleared of drug-related crimes in the US.

While ruling that Abuja is not special and 25% in the FCT is not necessary to emerge as President, the tribunal disclosed that the Independent National Electoral Commission is free to choose its method of transmitting results.

The Election Petition Tribunal stated that the evidence tendered by Peter Obi didn’t prove he won the Presidential Election.

Tsammani said Peter Obi and Labour Party failed to substantiate their claim that glitches recorded by Inec resulting in its inability to upload presidential result was delibrately done to manipulate the result.

6. Obaseki Fires Tinubu, Says FG Lacks Capacity, Faults Naira Devaluation

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has said the Federal Government lacks the capacity to effectively manage itself and cannot be trusted to fix federal roads in the State.

Speaking to journalists in Benin, the governor noted that the State Government will work with the newly inaugurated local council chairmen to build alternative roads to end the suffering of residents and other users of the federal roads in the State.

Obaseki said his government remains committed to advancing development in all communities and improving the livelihoods and welfare of the people of the State.

Decrying the current economic realities in the Country which has continued to impoverish more citizens, Obaseki noted, “As you know today, we are facing very harsh economic times and it’s tough. Every day, the naira gets devalued and more people go into poverty as they can’t feed themselves. As a people and a society, we can’t turn our eyes and abandon our people. We must look for a way to strengthen them and ensure that our citizens don’t go to bed hungry.

7. Tinubu Govt Increases Price Of Electricity Meters

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced the upward review of the price of pre paid electricity meters in the country.

Naija News reports that this was disclosed in a circular signed and dated 5 September 2023 by the commission’s Chairman and Commissioner Legal, Licencing and compliance, Sanusi Garba and Dafe Akpeneye, respectively.

The circular stated that a single phase pre paid meter would now cost N81,975.16k from the N58,661.69k while three phase pre paid meters is increased to N143,836.10k from N109,684.36k.

It said the new price was to ensure a fair and reasonable pricing of meters to both MAPs and end-use customers.

8. Tribunal Declares Natasha Akpoti Winner Of Kogi Central Senatorial Election

The senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has been declared winner of the Kogi East Senatorial election held on February 25, 2023.

Naija News gathered that the election petition tribunal sitting in Lokoja issued the declaration on Wednesday.

The tribunal Chairman, Justice K.A. Orjiakoin, in his ruling on Wednesday, said Uduaghan scored 54,064 votes to defeat his closest rival Sadiku-Ohere, who polled 51,291 votes.

Justice Orjiakoin said Ohere results were inflated in nine polling units of Ajaokuta Local Government Area (LGA) while that of Natasha was intentionally reduced in the areas by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as three other polling units result that was deliberately not entered for Natasha in the same LGA.

He urged Ohere to pay Akpoti-Uduaghan N500,000 for the cost of the petition.

9. Tribunal Throws Out APM’s Petition Seeking Tinubu, Shettima’s Disqualification

The Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) has declared that it lacks the powers to hear the petition of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the qualification of President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.

Reading the lead judgment on Wednesday, Justice Haruna Tsammani, held that the issues brought before the tribunal are pre-election matters, which ought to have been at a high court.

Tsammani ruled that the tribunal lacks the jurisdiction to hear or determine an issue bordering on the qualification or non-qualification of a candidate, adding that APM lacks the locus standi to challenge the qualification of a candidate in another political party.

The leader of the five-panel of justices added that the timeframe of 180 days within which to determine the issue had elapsed, adding that the petition is devoid of any merit.

The judge said matters of qualification and disqualification are guided by the provisions of sections 131 and 137(1)(a)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution, adding that the issue complained of was an internal affair of a political party.

10. Labour Party Rejects Presidential Election Tribunal Judgement, To Announce Next Move

The Labour Party (LP) has rejected the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court which upheld the victory of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25, 2023 election.

Naija News earlier reported that the tribunal struck out the Labour Party’s petition challenging President Tinubu’s victory and upheld his declaration as the winner of the election.

But in a statement on Wednesday shortly after the court announced its decision, the LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the party outrightly rejected the outcome of the ruling.

The party stated that justice was not served and it did not reflect the law and the desire of the people, adding that Nigerians were witnesses to the electoral robbery that took place on February 25.

The LP saluted the doggedness of its team of lawyers who fearlessly exposed the wrath in the system, saying it can only weep for democracy in Nigeria but refused to give up on the country.

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