10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers Tuesday morning, January 14, 2020

These 10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers will interest you this Tuesday morning.

1. Babangida speaks on coup plotting

A former military president, General Ibrahim Babaginda (Rtd) has said that coup plotting had become unfashionable and unacceptable in Africa and the world at large. According to him, only a stupid soldier would plot a coup d’état at this age and time. Babangida stated this when he spoke on Channels Television Newsnight programme. He said, “I can tell you now that only a stupid soldier will think of a coup d’état because this is outside their head, it is no longer in their psyche, it is no longer acceptable in Africa and in the world generally, so he is intelligent enough to know that if he stages a coup, the country will be ostracised in the world community of nations, there can be an uprising in your own country, so it’s no longer fashionable.” Read more

2. Court fixes date to hear suit challenging Gbajabiamila’s qualification

An FCT High Court, in Jabi, Abuja, has fixed February 25 to hear a suit challenging the qualification of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila to contest for election. The suit is also challenging his nomination as Speaker in the 9th Assembly. When the matter which was slated for hearing of pending applications came up, the claimant’s Counsel, Obed Agu, informed the court that he had motion on notice before the court. Agu said his application was seeking to regularise his processes by way of asking for an extension of time to enable him file his reply to defence counter- affidavit and preliminary objection. The motion was brought in pursuant to the rule of the court dated Nov.18 and filed Nov. 19, 2019 in a four- paragraph affidavit. Read more

3. EDO: APC’s poor performance campaigning for PDP —Orbih

The Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Dan Orbih, on Monday said that the poor performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration in the state is already campaigning for the PDP. Orbih, who noted that the PDP was ready to take over governance of the state from the APC, stated this while addressing members of the PDP after receiving an honorary award at the Afemai declaration of the PDP Edo North Senatorial District, adding that the party had done well in the face of intimidation. Read more

4. Kogi govt, labour set up committee on new minimum wage; will the negotiations ever end?

Kogi State government and the organised labour have set up a 14-man committee to negotiate the implementation of the new minimum wage for workers in the state. The Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Mohammed Onogwu, disclosed this in a statement in Lokoja on Monday. Mr Onogwu said the Secretary to the State Government, Folashade Ayoade, is the Chairman of the committee which also has the state Head of Service, Deborah Ogunmola as member. Read more

5. Amid backlash for using presidential jet, defiant Hanan Buhari says she can’t wait for another project.

Hanan, President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, has brushed off criticisms over her use of presidential jet for a personal event, saying she could not wait for a new project. Recall that the first-class graduate of photography flew to Bauchi State for a private engagement using the presidential jet. Many Nigerians had frowned at it, saying such trips would increase the maintenance cost of the aircraft in the presidential fleet. Defending her, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, said there was nothing wrong with the trip and that the president’s family is entitled to use the presidential aircraft. Read more

Read also: 10 top stories from Nigerian newspapers Monday morning, January 13, 2020

6. Why I shared the video of my daughter in the presidential jet —Aisha Buhari

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, Monday defended the decision to share on her Facebook page, the video of her daughter, Hanan, inside the presidential jet, saying the move was not intended to taunt Nigerians but to boost the morale of a distraught child. The President’s wife had on Monday posted a 55-second video of the young woman’s activities in Bauchi where she participated in a study tour of the Emirate as part of the requirements for a Master’s degree programme in a foreign university. Mrs. Buhari, who spoke through her Special Adviser on Media, Abdullahi Aliyu, insisted that the action was simply to showcase her daughter’s business in Bauchi. Read more

7. Court declines Maina’s request for rejection of EFCC evidence

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday rejected the application filed by the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, asking the court to reject documented evidence presented against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The judge said the defendant was not in a position to determine which document was relevant to the case of the prosecution. He told the parties that any document the prosecution decided to bring before the court to prove their case, provided it was admissible to the law, such documents would be admitted in evidence. Read more

8. EFCC arrests eight suspected cyber fraudsters in Ibadan

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on Monday that at least eight suspected internet fraudsters were arrested at the weekend in Ibadan, Oyo State. The commission said in a statement issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, that the suspects, whose ages ranged between 17 and 30 years, were apprehended in various parts of the city. The EFCC said the suspects’ arrest followed several reports received by its operatives on the group alleged involvement in internet-related crimes. Read more

9. Bauchi governor hospitalized in London

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has been admitted in a London hospital for an undisclosed illness. The governor’s media aide, Mukhtar Gidado, disclosed this in a statement on Monday. He, however, did not disclose the nature of the ailment. Read more

10. Nigerian troops gun down 100 bandits, six top commanders

Nigerian Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji (OPHD) in Zamfara and Katsina States have revealed that they killed no fewer than 100 bandits, including their six top commanders during operations. This was revealed on Monday by the acting Force Information Officer, Captain Ayobami Oni- Orisan, who also informed that the operation to annihilate the insurgents spanned December 16, 2019 to January 9, 2020. Captain Oni- Orisan further added that the operation to smoke out and neutralize “these recalcitrant bandits from their enclaves” was carried out by OPHD troops, comprised personnel of the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services and other security agencies. Read more

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