Good morning! Here is today’s summary of Latest Nigerian News from Nigerian Newspapers of Thursday 2nd February 2023
1. The Supreme Court has nullified the nomination of Emmanuel Bwacha as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State. A five-member panel led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun delivered the judgement on Wednesday.
2. Gunmen early Wednesday morning attacked the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Ojoto, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The State police command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a press statement.
3. The New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, has denied claims that its presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was in talks with his counterpart from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar. The National Chairman of NNPP, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, made the denial while addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
4. The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, might have given credence to the claim by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State that some elements in Nigeria’s Presidential Villa are working against Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Aisha Buhari shared the video clip of el-Rufai’s statement on her verified Instagram page without any comment attached to it, an act which might be seen as tacit support to the governor’s claim.
5. The chairperson of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rufa’i Alkali, has called on the standard bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to shelve his presidential bid for their candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso. Alkali stated this during a media conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
6. The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, the permission to apply for an order of mandamus to compel the Department of State Services to allow him to have unfettered access to medical care. In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 2341/2022, Kanu, through his legal team led by Mike Ozekhome and Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said he needed an independent medical examination to ascertain his health condition.
7. The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has alleged that those demanding further extension of the expiration of the new Naira notes have sinister motives. The former vice president, who stated this in a statement he issued in Abuja on Wednesday, backed the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to run a cashless economy.
8. Nyesom Wike says Rivers State people already know the candidate he wants them to vote for in the 25 February, 2023, presidential election, stressing that those expecting him to make a public declaration on his choice of the candidate would wait in vain. Wike spoke on Wednesday in Port Harcourt during the Rivers Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign rally for Port Harcourt City Local Government Area.
9. The presidency has reacted to the corruption perception index of Transparency International, TI, which indicated that Nigeria dropped four steps backwards in its anti-corruption war. Minister of Information and Culture, Lia Mohammed, reacted in defence of the All Progressive Congress-led administration on Wednesday, shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.
10. The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has cautioned Nigerians against voting for candidates playing the ethnic card. The NNPP presidential candidate spoke at his parley with the South West Development Stakeholders Forum in Ibadan, Oyo State.
