Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Editor roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Wednesday, 24th July 2024.
1. President Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon has invited Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, to invest in his country. According to Dangote Industries Limited, the billionaire was asked to explore investment opportunities in Cement and Fertiliser (Urea and Phosphate).
2. Amnesty International has cautioned President Bola Tinubu’s administration against threatening Nigerians planning to protest against the current hardship and hunger in the country. The global human rights body warned that threatening intended peaceful protesters is unlawful, adding that Nigerians have the constitutional right to protest.
3. The senator representing Imo East, Ezenwa Onyewuchi, yesterday, defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) citing division and crisis in his former party. His letter of defection was read on the floor of the Senate by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, during plenary.
4. Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government and its agencies for trying to abort the planned August 1 protest across the country. He said it is also ironical that those who protested against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 are the ones trying to stifle other people’s rights to protest.
5. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked those planning to protest against his administration’s policies to shelve their plan. Addressing State House reporters after a meeting with the President on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, declared that the President asked him to communicate to Nigerians, especially the youths, that he has listened to all their concerns.
6. The National Assembly has passed the N6.2tn budget amendment bill for the third reading, as the Federal Government is to spend about N2tn on the Lagos-Calabar highway and other road projects. The bill was passed after the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West), presented his committee’s report on the 2024 Appropriation (Amendment) Bill.
7. The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Tuesday, said there was a decline in crime rates across the country in the past few months due to the strategies deployed by the police. Specifically, he noted that major crimes dropped to 416 in the last one month, compared to 734 in May and 530 in June.
8. The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested 44-year-old Paul Samuel Edu for allegedly raping a member of the National Youth Service Corps in the state. The state Commissioner of Police, CP Waheed Ayilara, disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing newsmen at the command’s headquarters, Ikot Akpan-Abia, Uyo.
9. Members of a vigilante group on Tuesday morning discovered the lifeless remains of a newborn baby dumped in a manhole along Ikwerre Road by Ekwe axis of Mile 3 Diobu in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The Chief Security Officer of Nkpolu-Orowurokwo attached to the Diobu vigilantes, Godstime Ihunwo, disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
10. The Senate on Tuesday approved the nominations of Tunji Bello as Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice-Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC. The confirmation followed a consideration of the report of the Committee on Trade and Investment presented by its Chairman, Senator Sadiq Suleiman (APC – Kwara North), during plenary.
