Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know this Friday morning

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. A Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, Thursday, granted the Department of State Services, DSS, an approval to keep Omoyele Sowore in detention for 45 days pending the outcome of its discrete investigations. The presiding judge, Taiwo Taiwo also said DSS could get additional permission to detain Sowore in custody for his activism.

2. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday arraigned a former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. EFCC accused Iwu of being involved in the N23.29 billion poll bribery scandal which characterised previous general election and was to be tried for allegedly laundering N1.2billion. The former INEC Chair, however, pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge.

3. No fewer than 3,804 card carrying members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, including a former deputy governor, Alhaji Mutari Anka, former speaker of the state House of Assembly, Bature Sambo, a former commissioner, Alhaji Gurbin Bore, have all decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Others who decamped alongside these personalities include: the former Secretary to the state Government, SSG, Alhaji Mohammed Bawa Gusau, the present vice chairman of Zurmi local Government area, Mainasara Abubakar Atiku, seven serving councillors across the state and senior special assistants who served during ex-governor AbdulAziz Yari’s tenure. The Zamfara Governor, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, received the decampees at a grand event at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital, Thursday.

4. At a time the Kogi State House of Assembly began moves to impeach the Deputy Governor, Elder Simon Achuba, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kogi State chapter, has suspended Achuba from the party for alleged anti-party activities before, during and after the 2019 general elections. The party also based the suspension on some alleged actions the Deputy Governor took that constitute embarrassment to the APC family in Kogi state.

5. The Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, on Wednesday accused the South-West of attempting to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari through the RevolutionNow protest called by former presidential candidate of African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore. CNG claimed that the RevolutionNow was a SouthWest conspiracy, hence Northerners refused to take part in the protest.

6. A group of concerned Ogun indigenes has berated the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, for underrating former President Olusegun Obasanjo during a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari. The indigenes, under the aegis of Ogun Concerned Progressives, said Abiodun goofed for not acknowledging Obasanjo as one of the great indigenes of Ogun State who had played important roles in the development of Nigeria, saying posterity and history would not forgive him.

7. A human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, on Wednesday, criticised the Kaduna State government over the stringent conditions it issued with regards to the permission granted by the court to Sheikh Ibrahim El-zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, to embark on medical trip abroad. The Kaduna State government had expressed concern that El-zakzakay and his wife may seek asylum in India.

8. Junaid Mohammed, a Second Republic lawmaker, has rubbished the RevolutionNow protest called by former African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore. Speaking with DAILY POST, Mohammed described the RevolutionNow protest as a charade and meaningless venture, which should be ignored. Mohammed insisted that there was a sinister motive behind the call for the protest, stressing that Sowore lacked the true meaning of revolution.

9. The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, Wednesday, distanced himself from the impeachment move against his deputy, Elder Simon Achuba. Recall that the Kogi House of Assembly had commenced an impeachment process against Achuba. It anchored its impeachment process on a petition based on three grounds of criminal indulgence, financial misappropriation and non-performance. Following the process, insinuations in certain quarters accused the governor of sponsoring the impeachment process against Achuba due to their differences. Only last week, Achuba had accused the state governor of withholding his salaries and those of his aides amounting to N819.7 million. He claimed that he was last paid in 2017.

10. An unidentified girl has reportedly died in a hotel room at Amukpe community in Sapele, Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State after having fun overnight with her yet-to-be-identified boyfriend. The girl’s corpse was seen by hotel attendants lying lifeless on Thursday when her suspected lover was trying to check out of the hotel this morning. An alarm was raised and the suspect was apprehended and handed over to the Police, but it is not clear if any part of her body was severed. DAILY POST gathered that the girl entered the bar of the hotel with the man the previous night and they both shared drinks before they entered the hotel room for what was suspected to be romp.