Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Tuesday, 20th June 2023
1. Tinubu Names Ex-Aide IGP, Appoints New Service Chiefs
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of new security chiefs for the nation.
Naija News reports that this was made known in a statement by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume.
The newly appointed Officers are:
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu National Security Adviser
Maj. Gen. C.G Musa Chief of Defence Staff
Maj. Gen. T. A Lagbaja Chief of Army Staff
Rear Admirral E. A Ogalla Chief of Naval Staff
AVM H.B Abubakar Chief of Air Staff
DIG Kayode Egbetokun Acting Inspector-General of Police
Maj. Gen. EPA Undiandeye Chief of Defense Intelligence
Tinubu also approved the appointment of Adeniyi Bashir Adewale as the Ag. Comptroller General of Customs.
It is to be noted that the appointed Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police and the Comptroller General of Customs are to act in their positions, pending their confirmation in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
2. Presidency Confirms Tinubu’s Trip To France
The presidency on Monday confirmed that President Bola Tinubu will be in Paris, France on Thursday, June 22, to attend a Summit, which will be hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France, at Palais Brongniart.
Tinubu at the summit, will join other world leaders to review and sign a New Global Financial Pact that places vulnerable countries on the priority list for support and investment, following the devastating impact of climate change, energy crisis, and after effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President’s trip was confirmed in a statement by his Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, Dele Alake.
Naija News reports President Tinubu will be accompanied by members of the Presidential Policy Advisory Council and senior government officials and is expected to return to Abuja on Saturday.
3. Tribunal: Court Admits Evidence Showing INEC Server Had No Network Issues
The Presidential Election Petitions Court has reportedly admitted evidence indicating that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had no glitches in uploading election results of the last general election.
Naija News reports that the evidence was contained in a report from a subpoenaed witness, who identified as an employee of Amazon Web Services Incorporated, USA.
According to the witness, the report reveals the health status of the cloud services offered to the electoral commission during the electioneering period.
The report specifically provides details on the health status of the Amazon Web server that provided cloud services for INEC’s digital backbone for the presidential election
According to Daily Sun, a snippet of the report contents revealed that there was no glitch that could have affected the e-transmission of results on February 25, 2023, when the presidential election held
The report was tendered through a witness subpoenaed by the Labour Party, identified as Claretta Ogar, whose identity was submitted as a cloud engineer and architect.
4. Nigerians To Pay More For Electricity Starting From July
Indications are that Nigerians may pay 40 % more for electricity tariffs by the start of July 2023.
Naija News reported that this development is coming about two weeks after President Bola Tinubu declared the end of the fuel subsidy regime during his inauguration.
This platform understands that the increase would eventually lead to the end of all forms of energy subsidy in the country.
According to The Guardian, with a monthly subsidy of about N50 billion still in the electricity sector owing to revenue shortfall, the tariff hike due from July 1, may be another acid test for the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s market reform.
The administration has already removed subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and floated the naira, decisions that have complicated the price-setting of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) 2022 Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO).
Although the power sector players have been unable to meet the threshold of supplying at least 5,000 megawatts a year after signing contracts with NERC, NERC’s current Service Based Tariff (SBT) was benchmarked on an exchange rate of N441/$ and inflation of 16.97%.
While NERC’s projected tariff for July 2023 was expected to remove subsidy and increase the previously frozen tariff band D and E, increasing the bands from N54.59/kilowatt to N62.16 for band D and N48.37/kilowatt to N61.16 on average with an average increase across the bands moving to N67/kilowatt, the prevailing floating of the naira and spike in inflation is projected to move the new average tariff to about N88/kilowatt for the sector to recover the cost.
However, a source from Ikeja Distribution told our reporter that there has not been an increase and that if there were any everybody would know about it.
5. Tinubu Changes Nuhu Ribadu’s Position
President Bola Tinubu on Monday upgraded the position of his Special Adviser on Security, Nuhu Ribadu.
Recall that the President last week had appointed Ribadu as Special Adviser on Security.
Naija News gathered that Tinubu in a statement released through Willie Bassey, Director, Information in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation upgraded Ribadu to National Security Adviser (NSA).
Tinubu on Monday night replaced Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser with Ribadu.
6. Court Upholds Order Against Planned NLC, TUC Strike
The National Industrial Court, on Monday, reaffirmed its decision to prohibit the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) from initiating their planned industrial strike.
Justice Olufunke Anuwe confirmed that the order, issued on June 5, remains in place until further examination and resolution of the motion on notice.
The court directed all parties to preserve the current status quo and adjourned the case until July 20 for further hearings.
When the case was called earlier, the Federal Government’s counsel, Ochum Emmanuel, noted the claimant’s readiness to proceed with its motion for an interim injunction to halt the proposed strike.
In response, the defence counsel, Marshall Abubakar, stated that they had submitted a request for the court to repeal its June 5 order prohibiting the defendants from striking.
In his argument, Abubakar noted that the claimant only served them a counter-affidavit in court on Monday after they had submitted their application on June 8.
The court granted a brief adjournment as requested by Abubakar to allow the defence to examine the counter-affidavit and prepare a response.
The federal government’s counsel opposed the adjournment request but was overruled by the court’s decision.
7. Tinubu Dissolves Governing Boards Of All Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the immediate dissolution of the Governing Boards of all Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies.
The President gave the approval in the exercise of his constitutional powers and in the public interest according to a statement on Monday by the Director, Information, Willie Bassey on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Naija News understands the dissolution does not, however, affect Boards, Commissions, and Councils listed in the Third Schedule, Part 1, Section 153 (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
In view of this development and until such a time new boards are constituted, the Chief Executive Officers of the Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions, and Government-Owned Companies are directed to refer matters requiring the attention of their Boards to the President, through the Permanent Secretaries of their respective supervisory Ministries and Offices.
Permanent Secretaries are directed, also, to route such correspondences to Mr President through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Permanent Secretaries are particularly directed to inform the Chief Executive Officers of the affected Agencies under the supervision of their respective Ministries/Offices for immediate compliance.
8. Court Rejects APC, Tinubu’s Attempt To Stop Election Petition
In a turn of events on Monday, the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) refused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s bid to halt a petition from the Allied People’s Movement (APM) that challenged his eligibility in the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
Tinubu, through his chief lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, sought to apply a Supreme Court judgment given on May 26, 2023, to dismiss the APM’s petition.
However, this request was denied. Tinubu’s contention was that the Supreme Court had addressed the lone issue raised in APM’s petition in a lawsuit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He attempted to persuade the court to use the spirit and letters of the Supreme Court ruling to halt the APM’s petition proceedings.
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, the presiding justice of the court, disagreed with Tinubu, asserting that the party should not be prevented from having a fair hearing.
Justice Tsammani advised Tinubu to postpone his objections to the hearing of the petition until the final address stage of the court’s proceedings.
The APC, represented by its lawyer Charles Edosomwen, raised similar objections against the petition, but these were also rejected by the PEPC for the same reason.
9. ‘Baban Aisha’: NAFDAC Arrests Popular ‘Agbo’ Manufacturer
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has announced the arrest of Salisu Sani, manufacturer of sacra herbs, popularly known as Baban Aisha herbal medicine.
Naija News recalls that an online platform, Premium Times, had through an investigation revealed that the herbal product, which is said to cure common diseases, was unsafe for consumption.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, NAFDAC director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency carried out surveillance and enforcement action leading to the sealing of the herbal medicine factory and the arrest of two staff.
The NAFDAC DG stated that the manufacturer of the medicine is now in custody.
She disclosed that the agency also clamped down on some distributors of some herbal medicines; Hajia Ayisha Special Snuff AK 47.
Adeyeye appealed to Nigerians to desist from the use of dangerous herbal medicines.
10. Tinubu: Beneficiaries Of Student Loan Commit Suicide In Other Countries – ASUU
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government to offer grants to Nigerian students instead of the student loan initiative.
The academic union asserted that beneficiaries of student loans in other countries commit suicide as a result of debts, hence should be discouraged in Nigeria.
Naija News recalls that the federal government announced a few days ago that interest-free loans would be offered to students to enable them to pay for their tuition fees and other school needs and repay years after school provided the beneficiary has a paying job.
The loan repayment starts two years after the beneficiary completes the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and is already working.
However, during an interview with Channels Television, ASUU National President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, said: “This would have been better if we are giving it to those set of students who are very poor, it should be called a grant, not a loan.
“It should be called a grant since it is coming from the Federation Account and not that (after) these people have accessed it and when they are graduating, they have heavy loads behind them, and within two years, if they don’t pay, they go to jail.”
Osodeke said the policy is not sustainable.
Those are the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naija News. See you again tomorrow.
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