Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Wednesday, 4th October, 2023

Good morning Nigeria, welcome to the Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Wednesday, 4th October 2023.

1. Tinubu Writes Senate, Seeks Confirmation Of Three New Ministerial Nominees

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has requested the Senate to confirm three additional ministerial nominees.

The president made the request in a letter written to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and read on the floor of the Senate during Tuesday’s plenary.

In the letter read by Akpabio, President Tinubu asked the Senate to confirm Dr. Jamila Bio, Balarebe Abbas and Olawale Olawande as ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Senate President said the president nominated Abbas to replace the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, who was not screened and cleared by the Senate due to security reasons.

Recall that on September 17, Tinubu approved the appointment of Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim to serve as the Minister of Youth, pending her confirmation by the Senate.

The President had further approved the nomination of Olawande to serve as the Minister of State for Youth.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement.

2. Peter Obi Files Appellants’ Brief of Arguments Against Tinubu At The Supreme Court

The Labour Party (LP) and its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi have filed a brief of arguments at the Supreme Court in furtherance of the petition challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election in Nigeria.
The development was disclosed in a post via the X platform early on Tuesday morning by a chieftain of the party cum actor, Kenneth Okonkwo.

He wrote: “To God be the glory, we have filed our Appellants’ Brief of Arguments at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. We still trust in God to see us through. Great kudos to all the members of the Presidential Petition Legal Team of @PeterObi. God will bless all of them.”

According to a part of the document seen by Naija News, the filing is an appeal against the judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered on 6th September 2023 in the petition filed by Obi and the Labour Party against Tinubu’s victory.

It added that the appeal is predicated on the notice of appeal filed on 19th September 2023 containing 51 grounds of appeal.

Listed as respondents in the case are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Kashim Shettima and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

3. Impeachment: Ondo Assembly Directs Set Up Of Panel On Deputy Governor

The Ondo State House of Assembly has directed the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Olusegun Odusola, to immediately set up a seven-man panel to investigate the deputy governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on the allegations levelled against him.
The Assembly Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, who made this known during the plenary session on Tuesday, said Aiyedatiwa had failed to respond to the letter of notice served on him on September 25 over allegations of gross misconduct.

Oladiji said the house resolution that the deputy governor should be duly served a notice of the allegations, was in line with Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution.

The speaker asserted that the Constitution stipulates that the assembly should wait for seven days for the embattled deputy governor to respond which has lapsed.

The House, with 23 out of 26 members at the plenary session through voice vote, gave a nod for the chief judge to constitute the panel.

4. Gov Otti Speaks About Funding Peter Obi’s Tribunal Litigation, IPOB Activities

The Abia State governor, Alex Otti, has reacted to claims of him using state funds to finance the tribunal litigation of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi and also activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The governor denied using state funds to support either of the above parties while calling for a comprehensive investigation into the matter.

The governor’s reaction follows claims that he was allegedly funding Obi’s tribunal litigation against President Bola Tinubu, as well as supporting IPOB activities ahead of the governorship election petition tribunal verdict slated for 6th October.

However, Otti, in a statement through his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Ferdinand Ekeoma, called on all security agencies to look into the matter for further probe and apprehension.

Otti also appealed to the president, the Chief of Army Staff, the National Security Adviser, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to thoroughly examine the allegations made against him.

Otti said he is calling for an investigation into the matter because the allegations are weighty and could not be ignored, Naija News understands.

The governor’s aide said the allegations were made by individuals suspected to have been hired by opposition elements who lost in the March 18 governorship election.

5. Presidency Speaks On Tinubu’s Certificate Forgery Saga, Says Atiku Bit Hands That Once Fed Him

The senior special assistant to President Bola Tinubu on media, Temitope Ajayi has said the humiliation his principal has suffered due to the academic record controversy cannot be compared to the question of whether or not the Nigerian leader graduated from Chicago State University in the U.S.

Naija News recalls that Chicago State University had released Tinubu’s academic records following the requests by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The university, on Monday, presented to Atiku’s legal team, a cache of documents connected to Tinubu’s education at the institution and copies of certificates with redacted names issued to other persons about the same time the Nigerian president finished from the school in 1979.

Reacting, Ajayi via the microblogging platform formerly known as X said that Atiku Abubakar of the PDP demonstrated a behaviour synonymous with biting the hands that once fed him all in his pursuit of “earthly position.”

The presidential aide recounted instances where Tinubu reportedly “moved mountains for Atiku in the past” and sheltered him when” he was thoroughly beaten by rain and stripped naked by President Olusegun Obasanjo and his party PDP in 2007.”

6. Senate Issues Directive To President Tinubu On Supplementary Budget For CNG Buses

President Bola Tinubu has been asked by the 10th Senate Committee on Gas to send a supplementary budget to facilitate the procurement of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for mass transit across the country.

Naija News had earlier reported that the federal government during a meeting with labour leaders on Monday, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila agreed to earmark N100 billion for the buses.

The decision was reached as part of the move to stop the planned strike of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

In a statement on Tuesday, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, chair of the Senate gas committee, said it would be illegal for the president to make the procurement of the CNG buses without recourse to the national assembly.

Jarigbe commended the president for the initiative to provide the CNG buses, adding that it would ameliorate the suffering of citizens.

7. Army Chief Reacts To Alleged Poor Feeding Of Nigerian Soldiers

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has ordered an immediate investigation into the alleged complaints of poor feeding and poor welfare by soldiers at the frontlines in the Northeast region.

Lagabja gave the order following a report that some soldiers of the 154 Taskforce Battalion of the Nigerian Army in the Northeast region lamented that despite an increment of money earmarked for their feeding allowance, they are being poorly fed.

The soldiers claimed that they were only given bread and tea for breakfast on Mondays and Thursdays, rice for dinner, white rice and stew for Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, adding that they were given concussion rice for the remaining weekdays.

The soldiers, in a chat with SaharaReporters, shared several photographs showing the abysmal food they were served in their base, even as they lamented the non-payment of their allowances.

Reacting in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Director, of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Army Chief ordered that an investigation be carried out immediately on the soldiers’ claim.

Lagbaja stated that the welfare of troops under his leadership takes a premium place amongst other important schemes and considerations.

According to the COAS, the Nigerian Army is committed to transparency and accountability, and will not condone any form of negligence or misconduct.

8. Senate Amends Standing Rules, Limits Contest For Senate Presidency, Others

The Nigerian Senate has amended its standing rules in the contest of the office of the President of the Senate or Deputy Senate President.

Naija News reports that the Red Chamber amended and passed the standing rules during plenary on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

The new standing rules provide that to be eligible to contest the office of the President of the Senate or deputy, a senator must have served a term in the Nigerian Senate.

At the plenary on Tuesday, the upper legislative chamber adjusted its standing rules after Opeyemi Bamidele, majority leader, sponsored a motion.

The motion, seconded by Simon Mwadkwon, deputy senate majority leader, received the support of all the senators when Senate President Godswill Akpabio put it to a voice vote.

9. Tinubu’s Certificate Does Not Belong To A Female – Onoh Sends Message To Atiku, Peter Obi, Others

President Bola Tinubu’s image maker in the south East, Dr. Josef Onoh has berated critics claiming that the President’s certificate released by the Chicago State University (CSU) shows that it belongs to a female.

Onoh insisted that those making the false claim of female ownership of the certificate are ignorant of the Federal law under the Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) which gives Tinubu the right to ask that his education records be corrected if he believes them to be inaccurate.

He argued that the error in the certificate is a simple case of correction.

Onoh insisted that Tinubu’s critics are drowning political gamblers looking for anything to hold on to against the president after they were defeated at the March 18 presidential election poll.

Taking a swipe at the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, Onoh said they were causing embarrassment to Nigeria and distracting the president from his renewed hope agenda.

He urged Atiku and Obi to give up their political agenda and support Tinubu in moving the country forward.

10. ‘I Never Knew About NSTIF Until I Became Minister’ – Lalong

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, has said he was unaware of the existence of an agency like the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) until he was appointed a minister.

Naija News reports that Lalong made this known at the NSITF headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, confirming that within the short period he has spent in office as minister, he has received a lot of petitions.

This comes after the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) invited some top officials of the NSITF for questioning over a gratuity payment of N47m to the Managing Director of the Fund, Maureen Allagoa.

In a letter dated 14th September 2023, with reference number ICPC/SSD/TB/197/2023 and directed to the Managing Director of the Fund, those invited include the Head of the Administration Department, Head of Finance and Investment Department as well as the Head of Audit and Inspectorate Department.

Speaking on the development, Lalong said there is no agency without problems, and he was aware of different issues that arose from the Fund, particularly the case of how the MD paid herself, how the ministry queried her and how she refunded the money when it became public knowledge.

The former governor noted that a committee has been set up to investigate a wide range of issues that have caused a lingering crisis within NSITF and find a lasting solution.

He added that all the agencies are essential, however, there is a need to focus on NSITF to enable the ministry to succeed.

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