10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers Tuesday morning, February 4, 2020

These 10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers will make your Tuesday morning.

1. Angry Reps threaten to arrest Emefiele, heads of MDAs

For their refusal to honour invitations to public and investigative hearings, the House of Representatives on Monday threatened to issue warrants of arrest against some heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) belonging to the Federal Government. The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Chairman, House Committee of Public Accounts, Wole Oke, who spoke at an investigative hearing organised by the committee on Monday in Abuja, also said the list of erring MDAs would also be published in the newspapers,  The committee is probing the alleged “deliberate and reckless refusal by non-treasury funded ministries, departments and agencies to render accounts between 2014 and 2018 to the Auditor General for the Federation.” Read more

2. Court quashes Nigerian govt’s bid to establish Ruga in Benue

Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court Makurdi, Benue State, on Monday declared the Federal Government’s plan to establish Ruga Settlement and cattle colonies in the state as unwarranted, unlawful and unconstitutional. The judge, who delivered the judgement in the suit filed by the state government, challenging Ruga settlement in Benue, said any move by the federal government to compulsorily acquire land for such an arrangement in the state without the approval of the government was null and void. Read more

3. We notified Nigeria, others on visa restrictions – US

The United States Government said on Monday it notified all the foreign governments including Nigeria about the identity-management and information-sharing criteria in 2019. Washington disclosed this in the full report of the visa restrictions titled: “Proclamation on improving enhanced vetting capabilities and process,” published on www.whitehouse.gov. According to the document, the US described Nigeria as one of the worst-performing countries on the performance metrics which it said led to the imposition of migrant visa restriction on the country. Read more

4. We are suffocated with cases at Supreme Court – CJN

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, said on Monday, he was worried over the increasing number of appeals flooding the Supreme Court on daily basis. Justice Mohammed, who spoke at a valedictory court session held in honour of Justice Amiru Sanusi who clocked the 70 years mandatory retirement age on Sunday, said the apex court, “is daily inundated and suffocated with cases of different types.” Read more

5. What NASS leadership discussed with Buhari – Lawan

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said on Monday the National Assembly leadership discussed the parliament last week’s resolution on the service chiefs during their Monday meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He also said the NASS leaders expressed serious concern over security challenges facing the country and agreed to put effective machineries in place to tackle the problems. Lawan, who disclosed these to the State House correspondents at the end of a closed-door meeting between the President and the leadership of the NASS, said they also discussed the performance of the security agencies in addressing insurgency, banditry and kidnapping in the country. Read more

Read also: 10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers Monday morning, February 3, 2020

6. Rivers, NLC in war of words over sealed Secretariat

The Rivers State Government and the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) are locked in a war of words over the motive behind the sealing of the union’s secretariat in Port Harcourt. While the labour union believes the state government’s action stemmed from disagreements occasioned by the minimum wage negotiations, the state government, believes it is a mark of ungratefulness for the the union to think in such direction. The state government, in a statement on Monday by the Special Adviser, Special Projects and Head Bureau for Special Projects, George Kelly, described the claim by the state NLC that the building was sealed due to minimum wage issues as ungrateful and rebellious. Read more

7. APC to Buhari: Oshiomhole determined to cause anarchy in Edo

The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday told President Muhammadu Buhari that the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, is determined to cause anarchy in the state and urged the President to call him to order. The party said the ex-Edo State governor is “hell-bent” on disrupting the peace in the state by provoking people with his disregard for the state government’s directives. The spokesman of the state chapter of APC, Joseph Osagiede, who disclosed this at a press conference in Benin City, insisted that Oshiomhole was attacking people of the state but claimed that he was being attacked. Read more

8. Labour gives Anambra govt 14 -day ultimatum to implement minimum wage

The organized labour in Anambra State on Monday gave the state government a 14- day ultimatum to implement the new minimum wage or face the workers’ wrath. The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Jerry Nnubia, told journalists at the end of its state executive council meeting in Awka, that the workers were dissatisfied with the implementation of the January 24 agreement with the government on the matter. According to him, what the government implemented fell short of what the labour demanded during negotiation between both parties. Read more

9. 15 days after employment, driver steals car

An Igbosere, Lagos Magistrate Court on Monday sentenced 30-year-old Bob Badamosi to one year in prison for stealing a Honda Accord car belonging to his boss 15 days after he was employed. Badamosi according to court proceedings, had on January 21, 2020, at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Marina, Lagos, stole the blue Honda Accord car with number plate APP 788 EA, worth N2.6m and belonging to one Lukman Adekola. He was said to have stolen the car and ran to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital after dropping off Adekola at the NSE, where he parked the car for two days at an estate in search of a buyer. Read more

10. How Suswam pressured witness to change statement in corruption trial

A Bureau De Change operator, Abubakar Umar, on Monday told the Federal High Court, Abuja, how former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam and his defence team tried to influence him to change his statement in the ongoing trial of the ex-governor for alleged corruption. Umar, a fourth prosecution witness had on Friday, disclosed to the court how he helped Suswam to convert a total sum of N3.1bn to dollar and delivered its equivalent sum of $15.8m cash to the ex-governor in 2014. But the witness had contradicted himself while testifying before the judge who was formerly handling the case, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, saying in one breath that he delivered the $15.8m to the former governor in his Maitama, Abuja house, and in another breath, that he delivered it to an unnamed person in the Government House in Makurdi, the state capital. Read more

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