Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Monday, 28th August, 2023

Good morning Nigeria, welcome to the Naija News roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Monday, 28th August 2023.

The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu on Sunday charged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike to ensure the Abuja metro line is completed as soon as possible.

President Tinubu gave the charge while speaking at the Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in Abuja.

Stressing the importance of the project, the President told the FCT Minister that he wants to ride on the Abuja metro line and urged him to ensure he delivers on the project for the greater good of Nigerians.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar on Sunday mocked the academic records of President Bola Tinubu.

Atiku in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter accused President Tinubu of boycotting primary and secondary school education to move to Chicago State University.

The former Vice President claimed that President Tinubu in 1999, claimed that he attended St. John’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos, before proceeding to Children’s Home School in Ibadan.

Atiku alleged that President Tinubu’s academic record in 2023 was different from what was presented in 1999.

He added that the president only said he attended Chicago State University without primary and secondary school educations.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has neutralized some terrorists in recent air strikes in the North-Eastern region of the country.

This is as the NAF also bombarded some oil thieves in the Niger Delta region in recent operations.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the operations were carried out by the air component of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) and Operation Hadin Kai.

According to him, the recent success of the airforce was in the continuation of efforts aimed at containing the activities of terrorists, militants and other criminal elements bent on destabilizing the nation and making life unbearable to peace-loving Nigerians.

He said the air component of OPDS had, on August 27, carried out air interdiction missions on some illegal refining sites located at Cawthorne Channels, Bille and Gogokori in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers.

President Bola Tinubu on Sunday said Nigeria won’t keep using economic plans that waste most of its money on foreign debts. He spoke on Sunday in Abuja at an annual conference for lawyers.

“Prosperity will only occur once poverty is banished,” Tinubu told the 16,190 lawyers present. He called for help from business leaders, many of whom were at the event.

The President made the statement on Sunday in Abuja while declaring open the Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association at the Velodrome, Chief MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Getting it Right: Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation-Building,” the President stated that hard decisions must be made to set the country on a growth trajectory, despite the initial pains that meaningful reforms usually bring.

Against the backdrop of the judicial reforms he undertook as Lagos State Governor, Tinubu renewed his commitment to deal conclusively with the pressing issue of remuneration for judicial officers and legal practitioners, noting that true justice reform must begin with world-class salaries and benefits for legal professionals in Nigeria.

The Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, on Sunday confirmed that she is a corps member.

Musawa revealed this amidst the call for her removal following her active status in the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC).

According to the minister, she had not broken any part of the laws of the NYSC.

Musawa in a statement titled, “My personal statement on my status as a serving minister” said her appointment by President Bola Tinubu has followed a barrage of media attacks and misinformation about her.

Speaking on the NYSC Act, the minister said, “No part of any of them states that a serving corps member can not be appointed by the President of Nigeria or any other appointing authority into political positions.

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has lifted the suspension order slammed on the Lagos state chairman of the union, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo, and some other union members.

The suspension order was lifted by the newly inaugurated National President of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, in his inaugural address in Abuja.

According to him, the suspension order which was given during the tenure of Alhaji Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa was slammed on those he termed as enemies.

Agbede stated that the suspensions were illegal, adding in particular that MC Oluomo was unfairly treated, and therefore begged him to return to the union.

The new NURTW boss accused his predecessor of misusing power and destroying the union, particularly in the southwest.

The chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos State, Prince Tajudeen Olusi has declared that President Bola Tinubu has always had the character of using his money to help others long before he became a politician.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, Olusi who is a second Republic House of Representatives member and former Commissioner of Commerce in Lagos State described Tinubu as a junior brother.

According to him, it was after some of them who were politicians approached Tinubu for financial support and he gave willingly on several occasions that they decided to make him a politician.

Also during the interview, Prince Olusi submitted that some persons believe President Bola Ahmed Tinubu achieved more than the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in terms of uniting the North and South politically.

Olusi stated that President Tinubu is a good organizer who worked to unite the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contribute to the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in office.

The Governor Godwin Obaseki-led Edo State Government has taken a swipe at the Bola Tinubu-led administration over its reaction to a statement by the Governor.

Naija News recalls that Obaseki, while speaking with journalists in Benin City on Wednesday, described the federal government’s palliative concept as deceptive and fraudulent.

He also expressed shock and fear about the federal government’s inability to plan and effectively respond to the effects of the fuel subsidy removal policy that has further improvised Nigerians.

But the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, berated Obaseki over the comment on the performance of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

Idris stated that he was not surprised by the statement credited to the Edo State Governor.

The newly sworn-in Minister accused Obaseki of shifting focus to the nation’s economic challenges as cannon fodder to divert attention from his poor performance at the state level since his move to the Peoples Democratic Party.

But in a statement to Naija News on Sunday, Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Osa Nehikhare, expressed displeasure with the Minister’s statement.

Nehikhare stated that it is unfortunate and sad that the Federal Government now wants to gag citizens and even a popularly elected governor from speaking truth to power.

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) is asking President Bola Tinubu to overturn a recent ban that has stopped 25 journalists and media outlets from covering the presidential villa.

The organization is calling for the president to ensure that reporters can freely do their jobs, emphasizing their constitutional role to keep tabs on those in power.

According to reports, several journalists from various media houses like Galaxy TV, Ben TV, and MITV, among others, recently lost their credentials to cover activities at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

In a letter dated August 26, 2023, SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare stated, “Barring these journalists and media houses from covering the presidential villa is to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate constitutional responsibility.”

SERAP said, “Your administration cannot with one broad stroke ban journalists from covering public functions. Citizens’ access to information and participation would mean little if journalists and media houses are denied access to the seat of government.”

Barring any last-minute change of plans, some of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s nominees earlier rejected by the Lagos State House of Assembly could be reconsidered for confirmation.

Recall that the Lagos Assembly had disqualified seventeen out of the thirty-nine commissioner nominees sent to it by the Governor.

Naija News reports that 22 of the Commissioner nominees were, however, confirmed by the lawmakers on Wednesday

According to reports, the rejection of Sanwo-Olu’s 17 nominees was a confirmation of a rumoured cold war going on within the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Stakeholders, politicians, and some government officials disclosed that the rejection resulted from a cold war among political gladiators, power brokers, and stakeholders in the state.

Multiple sources claim that the Mudashiru Obasa-led Lagos Assembly only acted on the scripts written by different aggrieved interest groups to pass a message to Governor Sanwo-Olu.

Though, according to sources, some of the nominees were disqualified by the lawmakers due to their alleged inability to account for some financial transactions, as well as their lack of participation in party affairs.

Also, some members of the Assembly, who expressed dissatisfaction over apparent exclusion of their councils and party faithful from the list, faulted the exclusion of some parts of the state in the nomination list.

According to Vanguard, strong indications emerged that few of the rejected nominees are likely to be cleared and confirmed when the lawmakers reconvene on Monday.

Credible sources disclosed that the APC leadership in the Governor’s Advisory Council, with the blessing of President Bola Tinubu, had waded into the matter to resolve the imbroglio.