Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Thursday, 4th January, 2024

Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Thursday, 4th January 2024.

1. Tinubu Closes Buhari’s Single Treasury Account, Gives Directives To MDAs

President Bola Tinubu‘s government has instructed all ministries, departments, and agencies fully funded by the federal government to remit 100% of their revenues into the Sub-Recurrent Account, part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

This move is aimed at consolidating federal revenue earnings.

The directives, detailed in a December 28 circular from the Finance Ministry and announced on Tuesday, marks a departure from the single treasury account system used during Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

This policy is part of the federal cabinet’s broader strategy under President Tinubu to enhance revenue generation, and to promote fiscal discipline, accountability, and transparency in the management of resources and prevention of waste.

2. Subsidy Removal: No Plans To Increase Fuel Price – NNPC Assures Nigerians

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has assured Nigerians that there is no plan to increase fuel prices.

Giving this assurance against the backdrop of reports suggesting that fuel should be selling at ₦1,200 based on market realities, NNPCL, in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, urged Nigerians to disregard unfounded claims.

The petroleum company also urged motorists nationwide to desist from panic buying, adding that there is adequate petroleum products to serve the nation.

3. Fake Result: Nigerians Currently Enrolled In De-listed Togo, Benin Universities Are Criminals – Education Minister Says

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, has tagged Nigerian students currently enrolled in higher institutions that have been de-listed by the Nigerian government as criminals.

Making this claim while speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday, the education minister disclosed that he had no sympathy for Nigerian students affected by the de-listing of the foreign universities, adding that no Nigerian students should be associated with such institutions.

“The students that patronize them ( the de-listed institutions) are not victims but criminals because no students from Nigeria have any business going to such places where they go there pay money, disappear and reappear afterwards with what they call qualifications, which are not qualifications at all, I have no sympathy for them instead they are part of the criminal chain that should be arrested,” the minister said.

4. Nigeria Can Not Afford This Govt, Tinubu’s 2024 Budget Is Audio – Ologbondiyan

A former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, has submitted that the current system of governance in Nigeria is too expensive for the country.

He asserted that the country can not afford the financial burdens of running such a system of governance.

According to him, any government that comes to power and fails to address the issue of the high cost of governance is simply not ready to get the job done.

Naija News reports that Ologbondiyan made the submission on Wednesday during an interview with Arise TV.

While berating the government of President Bola Tinubu, the PDP chieftain stated that most of the 2024 budget figures are simply fake in terms of allocation and implementation.

He questioned the reality of the amounts quoted in the budget and the actual things they are expected to cater for, saying what is happening is mainly “audio budgeting and audio implementation.”

5. Former Humanitarian Affairs Minister Umar-Farouq Snubs EFCC Inquiry Over N37.1bn Fraud Allegation

Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, became the subject of controversy when she failed to appear for an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interrogation on Wednesday.

Naija News understands that EFCC is currently investigating a significant financial scandal, allegedly involving a N37.1 billion fraud during her tenure, reportedly linked to a contractor named James Okwete.

Despite being scheduled to report at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, at 10:00 am on January 3, 2024, Umar-Farouq did not show up, leaving the investigators waiting for over eight hours. There was no official communication from her or her representatives explaining the absence.

The PUNCH learned from sources inside the EFCC that the former minister’s non-appearance has raised eyebrows, considering the gravity of the accusations. An anonymous interrogator expressed disappointment, stating, “It’s certain that she’s never going to show up today.”

Journalists gathered at the EFCC headquarters in anticipation of Umar-Farouq’s arrival, highlighting the public interest in the case. The EFCC had invited the former minister to clarify the alleged financial irregularities uncovered in her ministry, as part of a broader investigation into a N37.1bn fraud.

Attempts to contact Umar-Farouq for comments were unsuccessful. Her former media aide, Nneka Ikem, was also evasive when approached for clarification.

6. Minimum Wage: ‘Our Hope Not Renewed Yet’, TUC Urges FG To Implement 2023 Agreements

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on the Federal Government to enforce all agreements made with organised labour in 2023, with a particular emphasis on the National Minimum Wage.

In a New Year message for 2024, Festus Osifo, the President of TUC, expressed this sentiment. The message was collectively endorsed by the union’s secretary-general, Nuhu Toro, and was issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

The message is titled, ‘Our hope not renewed yet.’

Osifo stated that in 2023, the TUC made efforts to uphold social dialogue with the federal government. However, he highlighted that despite their endeavours, the government had not fulfilled straightforward fundamental agreements with labour.

He emphasised that the labour sector had insisted on the notarisation by the court of the agreements reached on October 2, 2023, between them and the administration.

7. Nigeria’s Economy Was Only Good Under Obasanjo, Yar’adua And Jonathan – Moghalu

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, argues that Nigeria’s economy has always been bad.

Moghalu stated that the economy became good under the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umar Musa Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

Making his argument in a statement released on his official X account, the former apex bank chief said that Nigeria’s economy fell under incompetent economic management in 2015 after the end of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Naija News reports that Moghalu said the country’s economic distress was part of a 40-year downward trajectory that was broken briefly by the government of Obasanjo.

8. Magnus Abe Officially Returns To APC

Rivers State politician, Magnus Abe has officially returned to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Abe, who was the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the March 18, 2023 governorship elections in River State, returned to the APC on Wednesday.

Abe, who left the APC for SDP in the build-up to the 2023 general elections, said he is back with the APC to enhance the good things President Bola Tinubu is doing in the country.

The former senator also promised to mobilize his supporters for the party in the state.

9. Coming Generations Will Have No Choice But To Pay Africa’s Debts – Obasanjo

Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that the upcoming generation of Africans has no alternative but to grapple with the substantial debt burden on the continent.

Notably, Obasanjo, during his tenure as Nigeria’s president in 2003, successfully obtained debt relief for the country, a feat similarly achieved by his counterpart from Algeria during that period.

In a statement from his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Wednesday, Obasanjo shared this information during an interaction with the 2023 awardees of the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, an initiative led by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.

He pointed out that considering the past mismanagement of the previously forgiven debts for the country, it would be extremely challenging for any administration to replicate such debt-relief gestures on the continent.

Obasanjo asserted that debts represent a trap that individuals or nations should avoid, as they pose a significant burden for any economy.

The former president, who asserted that leadership was the number one problem facing the continent, said, “The coming generations will have no choice but to pay the current debt being incurred by different countries in the continent.”

10. Governor Aiyedatiwa Suspends Local Govt Caretaker Committee Chairmen In Ondo

The Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has suspended the local government caretaker committees and their chairmen in the state.

The directive was contained in a letter dated January 2, 2024, from the State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

The letter, which was signed by Alonge Adewale on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, directed the Heads of Local Government Administrations (HOLGAs) in all the LGAs/LCDAs to immediately assume responsibility in acting capacity pending the resolution of legal matters relating to the issue.

The letter expressed displeasure that despite the suspension of all recently appointed caretaker committee members by a court of competent jurisdiction, some individuals in these former positions are still parading themselves in the posts.

The directive therefore instructed the HOLGAs to retrieve all assets and properties of the LGAs/LCDAs with the former caretaker chairmen, vice chairmen and other members for safekeeping.

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