Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers
1. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday announced that the next presidential election will be held on Saturday, February 16, 2019.
The electoral body said the National Assembly elections will be held on the same day, while governorship and state assembly polls will take place on March 2. Primaries for the presidential and national assembly elections will start on August 18, 2017.
2. A High Court sitting in Abuja, Tuesday nullified the suspension of Senator Buruji Kashamu from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The party was also restrained by Justice Valentine Ashi from taking any further disciplinary actions against the lawmaker.
3. Othman Ngelzarma, the Secretary-General of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Othman Ngelzarma on Tuesday stressed that those who attacked Benue people are killers not herdsmen.
The MACBAN leader, who maintained that herdsmen were peaceful people and not killers, called for an end to the senseless killings across the nation.
4. The Benue State Government has denied arming militia groups to defend the people against the marauding Fulani herdsmen in the state.
Tever Akase, media aide to governor Ortom said the reports that troops of 93 Battalion of the Nigerian Army stationed in Takum, Taraba State, arrested nine well-armed militia from Benue, claiming to be members of government sponsored security volunteers, were false and should be discarded.
5. The Nigerian currency, Naira was sold at N361.5 to the Dollar at the parallel market on Tuesday while the Pound Sterling and the Euro sold at N475 and N420 respectively.
At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira traded at N362 to the Dollar, slightly lower than the parallel market rate, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N475 and N420.
6. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will help Nigeria repay a $76 million Japanese loan facility obtained to battle polio.
The Minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, who made this disclosure, in Abuja on Tuesday, stated that the authority to trigger the repayment was given to Bill and Melinda Gates foundation following the eradication of polio in the country as a result of the ODA facility provided by the Japanese government valued at $76 million in 2014.
7. The National Examination Council (NECO) has announced the release of the 2017 November/December Senior School Certificate Examination results.
The Registrar of the Council, Prof. Charles Uwakwe, said that a total of 42, 985 candidates registered for the examination and 42, 429 wrote the examination in 28 subjects.
8. A former Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Umaru Dembo, on Tuesday advocated for revocation of licences granted members of Independent Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to end fuel scarcity in the country.
The ex-minister said the appeal became imperative in view of the hardship bestowed on Nigerians by IPMAN towards the end of 2017 through 2018.
9. Troops in Operation LAFIYA DOLE in the ongoing Operation DEEP PUNCH 2 have neutralized over 50 Boko Haram terrorists.
They also destroyed and captured high calibre arms and ammunition, especially in the Lake Chad general area.
10. The Adamawa United Forum (AUF) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to declare the herdsmen as a terrorist gang following their incessant killings across the nation or risk the wrath of other militia groups in the country.
The spokesman of the group, Musa Jekeko, told journalists yesterday in Yola that the recent killings in Numan Local Council of the state and other parts of the country had shown that the herdsmen were deadlier than Boko Haram.
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