Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Editor roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Tuesday, 12th March 2024.
1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appealed to state governors to start paying the wage awards pending the determination of the new minimum wage to reduce the hardship of the economy on the people. The president implied that if the states had implemented the wage awards, it would provide much-needed relief without causing inflationary pressures.
2. Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum, NSF, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi Central) on Monday, insisted that projects worth N3.7 trillion in the 2024 Appropriation Act are not traceable. This is even as he denied saying that President Bola Tinubu is operating two separate 2024 budgets.
3. The United Kingdom, UK, has banned health and care workers from Nigeria and other foreign countries from bringing dependants to the country. This was announced in a terse statement via the UK Home Office verified X handle (formerly Twitter) on Monday, March 11.
4. The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and the Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU, have declared a 7-day warning strike over their salaries withheld during the 2022 nationwide strike. SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim told journalists on Monday that the decision to embark on the strike was taken at a joint action committee of the two unions held in Akure, Ondo State capital on Thursday and Friday.
5. Opposition figures are planning to form a new party to tackle the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in the next general election, it was gathered on Monday. Ahead of 2027, sources said the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in last year’s election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has set in motion the machinery for the proposed party in collaboration with some members of the National Assembly.
6. Gunmen, on Monday, invaded the hotel of the Chairman of Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Ikechukwu Odono, killing one person. Our correspondent gathered that the hoodlums also burnt no fewer than seven cars parked on the premises of the hotel, which is located in Ezzamgbo in the council area.
7. Ex-President, Muhammad Buhari was not aware of the depletion of Nigeria’s foreign reserves under the watch of former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, according to Ajuri Ngelale, spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu. Emefiele, who is currently battling multiple lawsuits, was in charge of the CBN throughout Buhari’s 8-year tenure.
8. Former President Muhammadu Buhari says his successor, President Bola Tinubu, has performed very well since his assumption of office nine months ago. The ex-president said Tinubu has performed well given the prevailing circumstances, but affirmed that Nigeria is a complex country to govern.
9. The Presidency has fingered some sub-regional forces for the escalating incidents of kidnapping of students and other security glitches in Nigeria. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in an interview, alleged that some sub-regional forces were “actively conspiring” against the stability of the country.
10. Bandits have demanded the sum of N40 trillion to release the 16 residents recently abducted from the Gonin Gora area of Kaduna State. A leader in the community, John Yusuf, said that the bandits got in touch with the victims’ families, asking for 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles.
