Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian newspapers:
1. The Edo State Police Command on Saturday said it has commenced investigation into the death of an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Benin, Williams Oyibogare. Oyibogare might have committed suicide as bottles of a pesticide, Sniper, were found in his home located in the Giwa Amu area along Airport Road. It was further alleged that a suicide note was found on his phone, which the police have already recovered. However, the EFCC said it was waiting for the police to conclude its investigation before making any further comment.
2. The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ogun State on Saturday dismissed the petition filed by Hon Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against the election of Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The tribunal held that Akinlade and the APM failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the election was marred with irregularities. The Yusuf Halilu-led tribunal said the petitioners erred in their burden of proof by calling only 35 witnesses out of over 1000 pilling units where they alleged non-compliance with the electoral act.
3. Mustapha Salihu, the National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Northwest, at the weekend told the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, that he was deceived by scammers into believing that there was an INEC server used to transmit the results of the election. He described the Presidential Election Petition tribunal’s verdict on Atiku’s suit as a victory for Nigeria and the Nigerian people and not for APC alone. Mustapha said that it was clear that there was no such server recognised by law anywhere. He said those who made Atiku believe the claim of the existence of a server succeeded in scamming him.
4. Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Saturday said that the legacy of determined, proud and assertive black emancipation left by late Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe will live long in the hearts of Africans. Osinbajo conveyed the message on the condolence register for Mugabe at Harare International Airport. The VP was in Zimbabwe to represent President Muhammadu Buhari at the state funeral of the late former president of Zimbabwe.
5. Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, a former Finance Minister, at the weekend, said that Nigeria is already a disintegrated country but still being held together by a false sense of unity. Kalu urged the Nigerian Government to postpone the 2023 elections to give way to address the myriads of problems facing the nation. Buttressing his argument, Kalu said that by the time one is afraid to move around a city; afraid because there is lawlessness out there, afraid because if something happens to you, you are on your own, that it is not very far from disintegration.
6. The Oyo State Police Command, at the weekend, said it has arrested a 20-year-old man, Gbolahan Ismail, for allegedly killing a 35-year-old Toyin Olubowale with a wooden stool after having sexual intercourse with her. Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu, paraded the suspect at the command headquarters, in Eleyele, Ibadan. He said that on 29th August one Gbolahan Ismaila entered the house of one Toyin Olubowale, sexually assaulted and subsequently smashed her head with a wooden stool which led to her death before he made away with her A32F itel Android cell phone.
7. Dr. Solomon Gembeh, High Commissioner of Sierra Leone to Nigeria, on Saturday said that the implementation of the Economic Community of West Africa State (ECOWAS) single currency will reduce the dependency of member states on the west. He called on member states to work towards meeting the implementation deadline of the single currency “Eco” which, he said, was already a threat to Western countries. He noted that West Africa is blessed with a lot of mineral, natural resources and human resources which, if effectively harnessed, will make the region a trade destination for Western Countries.
8. Former Minister of Women Affairs, Jummai Alhassan, popularly known as Mama Taraba, yesterday, decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from United Democratic party (UDP). Alhassan, who contested the governorship election on the platform of UDP during the 2019 general elections in Taraba State, made the decision during a stakeholders meeting of UDP in Jalingo. She said her defection to PDP was based on the outcome of an opinion poll during stakeholders meeting. According to her, she had no option than to go by the decision of the majority members of UDP.
9. President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, urged ECOWAS leaders not to allow terrorist groups destabilise the region. Buhari was quoted to have said this in his speech at the Extraordinary Summit of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government on Counter-Terrorism. President Buhari, who joined other ECOWAS leaders for the special one-day Summit, which was also attended by leaders of Chad and Mauritania decried that terrorism, today, has become a major security threat across the globe. He warned that the activities of terrorist groups constitute a grave danger to peace and security in West Africa, the wider Sahel and the global community.
10. No fewer than 6 persons were reportedly killed in the early hours of Saturday by unknown gunmen at Bakin Fadama and Rimi communities of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The gunmen, according to report went away with a number of cattle while unidentified number of people were wounded as a result of the sporadic shooting that took place in the communities. It was reported that in another operation in Kugosi Gadani village near Gwagwada in Chikun local government area, two people were kidnapped on Thursday including a crippled man.
