Summary of the Things You Need to Know Inside the Nigerian Newspaper Today (16/01/2020)


Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. Senator Hope Uzodinma, after receiving his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was sworn in as the governor of Imo State on Wednesday. The governor-elect and his deputy, Professor Placid Njoku, were sworn in by the Chief Justice of the state, Justice Pascal Nnadi. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Imo State Government House.

2. Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has rubbished the declaration by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami that ‘Operation Amotekun outfit launched last week by the Southwest governors is illegal. Soyinka said that the outfit has come to stay. He condemned the decision of the Federal Government to outlaw the South-Western security outfit. The Nobel Laureate stated this while speaking on Wednesday during a press conference at his Kongi’s Harvest Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos.

3. Former governor of Imo state, Emeka Ihedioha on Wednesday disagreed with the judgment of the Supreme Court which ousted him from office. Ihedioha in a statement he signed described the judgment as unfair, unjust and does not reflect the wishes of Imo people. He, however, said that as true democrats, Engr Gerald Irona and himself had no option but to respect the outcome of the judgment.

4. The call to arrest and prosecute the killers of late Oliver Inioma-Abbey, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, in Anambra State has taken another dimension as the Ijaw warlords under the aegis of Bonny Freedom Fighters have threatened to cripple the Nigerian oil industry if the Federal Government fails to fish out and bring to book the perpetrators. Spokesperson of Bonny Freedom Fighters, Charles Hart-Abbey a.k.the Last Don, in a statement, said relevant security authorities should hasten up efforts to fish out the perpetrators of the act or the group will react violently.

5. Gunmen have attacked the First Class Emir of Potiskum, Alhaji Umaru Bubaram, killing five of his aides along Kaduna-Zaria highway. The emir was said to be on a tour of traditional institutions across the North as part of preparations for the official commissioning of the Potiskum Central Mosque scheduled for January 18, 2020, when the incident occurred. He was on his way to Zaria when he came under attack by the gunmen. ‎The incident happened around Fandatio village, not far from Maraban Jos, on Wednesday.

6. The Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission on Wednesday alleged that the agency awarded spurious contracts in the past three years to the tune of over N1tn without being backed by the commission’s budget. Acting Executive Director, Projects, and Chairman, Contracts Verification Committee, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, who briefed newsmen in Port Harcourt, explained that such contracts were wrongly tagged emergency contracts. He described some of the contracts awarded by the commission between 2016 and 2019 as not only spurious but criminal.

7. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) Wednesday arraigned the immediate past chairperson of Kwara State Scholarship Board, Hajia Fatimah Yusuf for alleged bursary fraud. Yusuf was arraigned with Fatai Lamidi and Stephen Ajewole. The trio was made to appear before Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of the State High Court, Ilorin. EFCC acting spokesman, Tony Orilade said this in a statement in Abuja.

8. Five aid workers abducted by ISWAP in December 2019 in Borno State were on Wednesday rescued by the DSS in conjunction with other strategic stakeholders/partners. The rescued aid workers include Jennifer Samuel Ukumbong of the Alliance for International Medical Action, ALIMA; Asabe Cletus Musa also of ALIMA; Adamu Auwal Arthur Ibojekwe China of Solidarity International; and George Danbaba Michael of International Organisation for Migration, IOM.

9. The new Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma has, through the Director of his Campaign Organization, Chief Cosmas Iwu, ordered the immediate freezing of all Imo State Government accounts. The letter dated January 14, 2020, signed by Cosmas Iwu, addressed to the Regional Directors/Managers of all financial institutions operating in the state, was captioned “order of post no debit on the account of Imo State Government, effective immediately, January 14, 2020”.

10. Adams Oshiomhole, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has reconciled the new Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma and the Senator representing Imo West, Rochas Okorocha. Both men were at loggerheads for a long time, after they took opposing camps during the governorship poll. But on Wednesday, they shook hands before Uzodinma said in pidgin: “I don catch you na.” Oshiomhole then sang: “We are reconciling; we are reuniting; as victory comes our way, we put the past behind.”
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