Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspaper Headlines:
1. The Federal Government has said it is putting all measures in place to stop cash withdrawals from federal, States and local governments accounts. Director/CEO of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo Tukur said this yesterday.
2. Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has accused opposition political parties of misleading Nigerians about President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. He said the government is aware that in the build up to the 2023 general election opposition parties deliberately lie to Nigerians about Buhari’s administration.
3. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would require over 100,000 vehicles and 4,200 boats for the conduct of the 2023 general elections. Its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu made the disclosure during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the commission and Road Transport and Marine Workers Union in Abuja, yesterday.
4. An accountant with the Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu, Emmanuel Sombo has been sentenced to 304 years imprisonment for forgery and stealing of N34. 9 million from the account of the college. Sombo was convicted last week by an Enugu State High Court, presided over by Justice Kenneth Okpe, after a long trial, which started in 2010.
5. The Senate on Tuesday began probing the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over the N978billion it allegedly received from the Service Wide Votes (SWV), between 2017 and 2021. The said N978billion comprises both capital and recurrent expenditures which were said to have been disbursed by the AGF’s office to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
6. President Muhammadu Buhari and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, held a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, discussing the cash withdrawal limits recently introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This followed the inability of the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele to honour an invitation by the House of Reps.
7. Dr Doyin Okupe, the Director-General of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has resigned his position following his conviction over money laundering charges. Okupe announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the Presidential Candidate of the party, Peter Obi, dated December 20, 2022.
8. Operatives of the Kano State Hisbah Board have apprehended 19 youths at a popular event centre for engaging in same-sex marriage. The youths in their early twenties were said to have gathered to witness the wedding of two suspected homosexuals, Abba and Mujahid.
9. Despite criticisms trailing her nomination, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of the President’s Special Assistant on New Media, Lauretta Ifeanyi-Onochie as the substantive Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
10. Governor Bello Mattawalle of Zamfara State has confirmed that scores of residents and soldiers were killed during an operation by the Nigerian Air Force against bandits in the State. The bandits were also said to have ambushed soldiers who wanted to provide ground support for the Air Force, killing 10 of them.