Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. Abubakar Shekau, factional leader of the Boko Haram sect, has mocked Nigeria and its national pledge. He called it “shirk” which in Islam means the sin of idolatry or worshipping of anyone or anything besides the singular God. In excerpts posted on Twitter on Tuesday, Ahmad Salkida, an investigative journalist close to the sect, said Shekau was seen in the video clutching an AK 47 rifle as he read a prepared speech in Arabic about the doctrines of the insurgents.
2. The sum of £211,000,000 has been seized from a Jersey bank account that belonged to Nigeria’s former military ruler, General Sani Abacha. The money through the US into the Channel Islands was put in accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company. The money will remain with authorities in Jersey until the US and Nigeria come to an agreement on how it should be distributed.
3. The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, has denied recent reports in which it was quoted as threatening to soon attack the five South-eastern state of the country over the purported stubbornness of their governors. The chairman of the group in the South-East, AIh. Gidado Sidikki, who briefed journalists in Awka during a short prayer to mark the Eid-el-Fitr celebration for Muslims in the city, said that the reports ascribed to him, in which he was quoted to have said that states of the South-east zone would be attacked by herders, were blatant falsehood.
4. Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amb. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has emerged President of the 74th UN General Assembly. Muhammad-Bande, the sole candidate for the position, was elected through acclamation at the 87th plenary meeting of the Assembly in New York on Tuesday. He is the second Nigerian to hold the office after Joseph Garba. He will be inaugurated in September.
5. The Chief Cyril Ogodo-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked the Supreme Court to determine who is the Delta Central Senatorial district candidate between incumbent Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Olorogun O’tega Emerhor. This follows the Appeal Court’s ruling in a judgment delivered by Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada, Chidi Nwaoma Uwa and Muhammed L.Shuaibu on May 19th which set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Asaba Division which had earlier upheld the Ogodo-led Executive Committee as the authentic leadership of the party in Delta State.
6. Head coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, has claimed that the players were happy to have captain John Mikel Obi back in the squad. Mikel Obi, who is currently without a club, has not featured for Nigeria since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. However, the midfielder is in camp, ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations this month. Describing Mikel Obi’s integration back into the team as “natural”, Rohr said, “the players are happy to see him and he has been working very hard.”
7. Former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and former Ondo State Military Administrator, Chief Olabode George, has revealed that the party’s governorship candidate in Lagos State in the last election, Jimi Agbaje, has joined the All Progress Congress, APC. George also revealed that Agbaje failed in the last election because ‘he thinks he knows it all’, adding that it was Lagos people that worked against him.
8. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos Metropolitan See, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, has outlined his reasons the recent claim made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo about alleged Fulanization of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari may become a reality. Okogie questioned the leadership of President Buhari while lamenting that “the security situation in Nigeria has become worse than deplorable.” The cleric noted that Nigeria was being attacked; wondering if this was how the citizens will be watching while the country becomes more inhabitable than it has ever been in her history.
9. Mike Ozekhome, a senior lawyer in the legal team of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, has set an agenda for President Muhammadu Buhari, as he begins his second term in office. In a statement on Tuesday, Ozekhome called on Buhari to be more nationalistic in his approach to governance. He also asked the president to “quickly take Nigeria out of the social, economic and political doldrums he and his APC government have provided.
10. Rihanna has been named the wealthiest female musician in the world. According to Forbes, the 31-year-old has amassed a $600 million fortune. This puts her ahead of fellow musician, Madonna ($570 million), Céline Dion ($450 million), and Beyoncé ($400 million).
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