Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know this Tuesday morning
Good morning! Here is todays summary from Nigerian Newspapers: 1. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has expressed concern about the challenges it is facing as it prepares for the 2023 elections. The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, said that the recent flooding across the nation had destroyed no fewer than 20 offices of the commission. 2. Sonia Ekweremadu, daughter of a former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Ike, on Monday appeared before a court in the United Kingdom over an accusation of trafficking a homeless man into the UK to harvest his organs for herself. The 25-year-old is accused alongside her father Ike, 60; mother, Beatrice, 56; and 50-year-old doctor Obinna Obeta. 3. All the abducted children of a former Accountant General of Zamfara State, Abubakar Bello Furfuri have regained their freedom. They were released on Monday, five months after terrorists abducted them. 4. The Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, yesterday, vowed never to attend debates if his counterparts from the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, do not show up. Obi said he would back out of any debate where presidential candidates send surrogates or running mates, even at the last minute. 5. Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, yesterday, lashed out at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, saying anybody supporting the former vice president is an enemy of the Benue people. He spoke on Monday when he hosted his colleagues from Rivers, Oyo, Abia, and Enugu States in Makurdi. 6. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has indicated that the Federal Government may not fully pay university lecturers for the eighth months that the Academic Staff Union of Universities was on strike. Gbajabiamila, in a statement issued on Monday, said President Muhammadu Buhari was being awaited to approve the proposal of partial payment presented to him. 7. Ramon Abass, popularly known as Hushpuppi, was yesterday sentenced to 11 years and three months imprisonment by the United States District Court sitting Central District of California for money laundering conspiracy through several online scams. 8. Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, on Monday ordered immediate distribution of anti-riot equipment and kits to officers of the force nationwide. The police chief said the equipment should include bullet-proof vests with armored plates, ballistic helmets, long and short-range tear gas for civil disorder management and stun guns. 9. The Federal Government has announced that the train services on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line are set to return this month. Muazu Sambo, Minister of Transportation, made the announcement on Monday in Abuja while giving the scorecard of his ministry. 10. The troops of the Nigerian military attached to Operation Hadarin Daji, have neutralized some terrorists at Yar Tashar village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State. The terrorists were reportedly killed while they were trying to harvest farmers produce in the village.