Newspaper Headlines Today Friday 9th June 2023

Below are today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. The Labour Party and its presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, on Thursday evening, sought an order of the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja to interrogate the Independent National Electoral Commission. The LP and Obi, among other things, are seeking details relating to the information and communication technology experts used by INEC in the conduct of the election.

2. Benue State Governor, Rev. Father Hyacinth Alia has lamented the alleged massive looting of the government house in Makurdi by the immediate past administration led by Chief Samuel Ortom, noting that he was left with no single official car. Alia also stated that he inherited an empty treasury and a whooping huge debt profile of N187.56 billion accompanied by accumulated months of unpaid salaries.

3. After speculations over its stand on the leadership of the 10th National Assembly, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said the All Progressives Congress, APC, would find itself a minority party on the floor of both houses on Tuesday, having entered into a working agreement with other opposition parties. The spokesman of the party, Debo Ologunagba, disclosed this on Thursday.

4. President Bola Tinubu on Thursday met with members of G5 or the Integrity Group at the Aso Villa, Abuja. Those at the meeting are Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, as well as former Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu).

5. Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State says the government of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari spent more than the $19 billion used in building the Dangote Refinery on the maintenance of the country’s refineries. At different points within his 8 years in power, the Buhari administration awarded contracts for the repair of refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri.

6. Two subpoenaed witnesses of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, admitted at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) failed to transmit the results of the election after the collation.

7. Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to begin the healing process he promised during his inauguration by releasing the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. Mbah briefed State House Correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa.

8. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has described as dangerous signals, the claims by the state Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, that he was not aware of any Fulani security outfit operating in the state. The party has also called on the state government to proscribe the outfit, arrest the leaders and prosecute them to ensure they do not operate in the state.

9. President Bola Tinubu has signed into law the bill on uniform retirement age for judicial officers. Tinubu signed the bill into law on Thursday. It was passed by the outgoing Ninth National Assembly.

10. A Delta State High Court sitting at Effurun, in the Uvwie Local Government Area, has convicted and sentenced two persons, Theophilus Nwachukwu and Christopher Okoli, to death by hanging for kidnapping, armed robbery and illegal possession of arms. The presiding judge, Justice R. Harriman delivered the judgment on June 6, 2023, noting that the prosecution proved all the charges preferred against the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.