Good morning! Here are 10 thins you need to know this morning.
1. The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun, has admitted that the ruling party is currently facing financial constrains.
The party leader, however, insisted that despite the financial challenges, the APC does not intend to bother President Muhammadu Buhari because raising funds for the party was not part of his national assignment as the Commander-in-Chief. Oyegun stated this at an interactive session with newsmen at the APC headquarters in Abuja.
2. President Muhammadu Buhari has explained why there are inter-communal clashes in Nigeria He attributed the major causes of the crises to poverty, injustice and unemployment.
Buhari, who made this disclosure while receiving a delegation from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue on Monday, noted that to achieve enduring peace in the country, greater effort must be made to eradicate poverty and injustice.
3. The Federal High Court in Abuja, Monday adjourned the trial of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh till Jan 26 for continuation of hearing.
Justice Okon Abang, who presided over the case, however, had earlier dismissed the call by Metuh’s counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, for an adjournment of his trial.
Metuh’s lawyer had informed the court that he has filed an application for variation of the bail terms. He added that he was not adequately prepared for the commencement of trial because some very important document needed for the trial were unavailable, largely due to the fact that his client was yet to meet the terms of his bail since it was granted on Jan 16.
4. Ahead of the February 13 senatorial rerun in Benue South, former Senate President and PDP, David Mark has refuted the reports in some quarters that he okayed the defection of some members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the APC.
Mark, who spoke through his campaign director, James Oche od Door2Door, described the report as a cheap ”propaganda being ironed by the APC candidate. Daniel Onjeh and his hired social media miscreants.’’
5. Doyin Okupe, Erstwhile Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, decried the wobbly state of the nation’s economy, particularly as it relates to crude oil production and sale.
Okupe, who aired his views via a Facebook post, said the stability of Nigerian economy had been threatened heavily by the deflating prices of oil. He, therefore, noted that it had become heart-breaking that this gloomy situation was totally out of the control of the current administration.
6. The Deputy National Leader of the Northern Elders’ Forum, Dr. Paul Unongo, has affirmed that former President Goodluck Jonathan should be probed over the $2.1bn arms deal.
Unongo, a former Power And Steel Minister in the Second Republic, said the former President should be jailed if found to have corruptly enriched himself in the $2.1bn arms deal but refused to refund his share of the loot.
Unongo, however, said the former President deserved consideration for conceding defeat in the last general elections and by helping the country to avert an impending national crisis.
7. The House of representatives Monday said that the current Minister of Petroleum Resources would be summoned before it to answer questions bothering on the controversial Refined Product Exchange Agreement contracts executed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary, the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, between 2011 and 2015.
Otherwise known as SWAP, the deals involved the exchange of crude oil for refined petroleum products, in which the corporation gave out part of its 445,000 barrels daily share of crude to trading companies.
8. There was tension in the coal city of Enugu State Monday, following the discovery of gory images of dead bodies buried under a building foundation along the ever-busy Enugu Port-Harcourt Express Road.
The victims were buried under the foundation of an on-going building project, suspected to be a church.
The incident, which occurred at the Ugwuaji Area of the State has kept residents in tears.
9. One persons was killed and several others injured after suspected Boko Haram gunmen attacked a village in Yobe State.
The police authority said on Monday that the gunmen invaded Babban Gida village around 01:00 am on Sunday and engaged in fire exchange with soldiers.
10. In sports, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will today battle Guinea for the quarter final ticket of the ongoing African Nations Championship.
Nigeria may, however, be without four-goal hero, Chisom Chikatara and ace midfielder, Mohammed Usman due to minor injuries.
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