NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS: 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS MONDAY MORNING

Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. Armed soldiers on Sunday invaded Daily Trust regional office in Maiduguri, Borno state and arrested the regional editor, Uthman Abubakar and a reporter, Ibrahim Sawab over the lead story of the newspaper on Sunday on military operation in the North East. Report claims the soldiers shut the gate of its Maiduguri regional office, after arresting the two editorial staff on duty at the time of the raid. The soldiers similarly invaded the Lagos and Abuja office of the newspaper.

2. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has directed the military to vacate the premises of Daily Trust. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said this in a terse statement Sunday night. This follows the siege on the Abuja, Lagos and Maiduguri offices of the newspaper.

3. There are calls by politicians and Nigerians for the resignation of the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi over his alleged condemnation of Buhari’s government in an audio tape. In the said tape, Amaechi was alleged to have said that Nigeria would never change as President Buhari does not listen to anyone. He allegedly acknowledged that Nigerians are suffering in just 3 years of the president.

4. It was a remarkable atmosphere at the Cardinal Ekandem Catholic Church Uyo when the Akwa Ibom PDP governorship candidate, Udom Emmanuel and his opponent of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Nsima Ekere were seen locked in a warm embrace while calling for peace in the forthcoming general elections in the state. The duo cautioned that the interest of the people of Akwa Ibom superseded their personal interest.

5. The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to the leaked audio tape making the rounds where Minister of Transport, Chibuike Amaechi was allegedly heard lambasting President Muhammadu Buhari. Atiku, in a statement on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication Phrank Shaibu, called on President Buhari to step aside over Amaechi’s alleged ‘vote of no confidence.’

6. Reno Omokri has alleged that the siege on Daily Trust office was planned by president Muhammadu Buhari and his cabal following the leaked Amaechi audio tape. According to him, the siege was a plan by the present administration to mitigate damages from controversies surrounding the viral tapes quoting the Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi criticizing Buhari.

7. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has pleaded with striking university teachers, to show mercy on students by calling off their strike. The teachers, under auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), began a nationwide strike since November, last year, over some disagreement between the union and the Federal Government. Ngige, speaking with reporters in Awka, Anambra state on Sunday, also declared that Federal Government was working out things to ensure the payment of the new minimum wage.

8. Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has raised the alarm that the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has threatened to kidnap five governors from the South East. The Governor spoke on Sunday at Nwaegu Military Cantonment in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state. According to Unahi, the fresh threat from IPOB was received via a text message sent to his wife.

9. The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has said that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is no longer interested in the affairs of the state since he was denied a second term ticket by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In a statement issued by the Jimi Agbaje Campaign Organisation (JACO) during the weekend, Agbaje called on the Lagos state legislature and the executive to bury their hatchet and attend to the 2019 budget to save the state from socio-economic crisis.

10. The presidency on Sunday said a press release in circulation to the effect that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the arrest and prosecution of Amaju Pinnick, the NFF Chairman, is fake news. Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President, (Media & Publicity), in a statement, said anyone familiar with the president’s commitment to the due processes of the law will not make such assumptions of the President.