Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today Wednesday, 21st April 2021
1. Buhari Can’t Be Intimidated – Presidency Tells Those Pushing For Nigeria’s Break Up
The presidency on Tuesday declared that it won’t shift ground on its position that the oneness and unity of Nigeria is not negotiable.
This is as it fired back at those leading calls for secession by various groups in the country noting that President Muhammadu Buhari is not someone that can be intimidated or bullied into giving in to their demands.
The federal government also accused those calling for a secession of fighting for their own personal gains and pockets only.
The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu reiterate the stand of the government on Tuesday while speaking in Abuja at an event organized by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Professional Forum which held at the national secretariat of the party.
On calls for the convocation of a National Conference, the presidential media aide submitted that it was an aberration with an elected parliament in place.
2. Akeredolu vs Jegede: Election Tribunal Rules On Ondo Gov’ship Election
The Ondo State Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Eyitayo Jegede against Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Naija News reports that the PDP candidate had challenged the victory of the ruling APC and its candidate in the October 10, 2020 governorship election which saw the re-election of Governor Akeredolu for a second term in office.
While delivering judgement in Akure on Tuesday, the chairman of the three-member panel Justice Umar Abubakar struck out the petition of Eyitayo Jegede of the PDP for lack of jurisdiction.
3. FG Blasts UK Govt, Tells It Not To Grant Asylum To IPOB Members
The federal government has warned the government of the United Kingdom against its plan to grant asylum to members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The Nigerian government in its submission said the UK government was undermining security in Nigeria by its actions.
The UK government had unveiled plans to grant asylum to persecuted members of IPOB and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
But reacting to the plan by the UK government, Nigeria’s Minister for Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said if indeed the UK government has such plans for IPOB and MASSOB members, then something is wrong somewhere, adding that it will be sabotage against Nigeria’s fight against terrorism.
4. President Idriss Deby Of Chad Shot Dead
The President of Chad, Idris Deby is dead.
The statement read on Tuesday by the national army of Chad on national radio revealed that President Deby who was newly re-elected has died of wounds he received while commanding his army in battles against rebels in the north.
Recall that Chad President had earlier won his sixth term in office in the latest provisional results on Monday by 79.3%.
According to the army spokesperson, Général Azem Bemrandoua Agouna, the military had been pushed back by a column of insurgents who were advancing on the capital, N’Djamena.
Déby was expected to give a victory speech after receiving the provisional results, but opted instead to visit Chadian soldiers on the front lines, said his campaign director Mahamat Zen Bada.
5. El-Rufai Tells Military: Killing Bandits Only Way To Make Schools Safe
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said the only way to make schools safe is to kill all bandits and bombing the forests they are camping.
Naija News reports that the Kaduna governor stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at an ongoing conference on Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria.
He called on the Nigerian Air Force to destroy the forests where bandits have been using as hide-outs.
El-Rufai said, “Nobody living in the forest is innocent and we must kill them all.
Speaking further, he said that drones should be bought and deployed to assist in the fight against banditry and other forms of criminality.
El-Rufai called for a stop to the payment of ransom, stressing that if people stop negotiating and paying them ransoms they would stop.
6. A Reasonable Govt Won’t Allow You Remain In The Cabinet – Wike Blasts Pantami
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has told the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr. Isa Pantami to immediately resign his appointment.
The Governor lamented that in saner climes, Pantami would have been sacked but the All Progressives Congress (APC) led federal government is known to always shield its members with questionable characters.
Wike spoke on Tuesday amidst the controversies surrounding allegations that Pantami has links with terrorist organizations including Boko Haram and others.
Reacting to the allegations, Wike was quoted by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri to have declared on Tuesday during an interview with AIT that the best solution is for Pantami to resign.
7. Alleged Assault: Senate Probes CCT Chairman Danladi Umar
The Senate has directed its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to probe the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Danladi Umar, over an alleged assault on a security guard in Abuja.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, gave this directive on Tuesday after the Senator representing Plateau North, Istifanus Gyang, laid a petition before the Senate on behalf of the victim, Clement Sargwak.
The Senator in his petition noted that the security guard was assaulted by the CCT Chairman and a policeman attached to him after he informed him (Umar) that his car was wrongly parked.
He called on the Senate to ensure justice was done on his case.
8. JUSUN, NBA Walk Out Of FG Meeting As Ngige Refuses To Show Up
Representatives of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday stormed out of a scheduled meeting with the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige.
Ngige had postponed a meeting with the leadership of the NBA and JUSUN over the ongoing nationwide strike that has crippled court activities for two weeks.
The minister had initially rescheduled a meeting fixed for April 15 to discuss the ongoing strike embarked on nationwide to protest against the non-implementation of financial autonomy of the judiciary.
The abrupt postponement of the meeting infuriated the NBA and JUSUN, who then called for nationwide protests over the issue.
At the rescheduled meeting on Tuesday leaders of the union were said to have arrived at the conference hall of the federal ministry of labour and employment for the meeting slated for 3pm
However, as of 4:35pm, Ngige was yet to arrive for the meeting.
Efforts by some officials of the ministry to pacify the visibly angry judiciary workers failed, as they walked out of the hall.
9. Umahi To Herdsmen: Stay Away From Ebonyi Until…
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi has asked herdsmen to stay away from the state until calm returns to the South-east state.
Speaking to newsmen after the state executive council meeting, on Tuesday, Umahi said at the moment, there is no herdsman in the state as a result of the tension in Ebonyi.
The Ebonyi state governor condemned the killing of policemen and the burning of police stations in the South-East zone.
Umahi, who is the chairman of the South-east governor’s forum, called on leaders to condemn the continuous killing in the zone.
10. Fire Guts INEC’s Data Centre In Kano
The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Kano State was on Tuesday affected by a fire outbreak.
The incident which happened around 9:30 am, at the Data Processing Centre of the INEC office, burnt laptop computers, desktops and affected the building.
An eyewitness that spoke with Daily Trust, noted that the fire was later brought under control by both the Federal and Kano state fire services.