Newspapers Review: 10 Things You Need To Know In Nigeria Today

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers
1. President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday formally presented an N8.6 trillion 2018 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.

The appropriation bill tagged ‘budget of consolidation,’ showed about 16 per cent increase from the N7.44 trillion appropriated in 2017.
2. Heavy sounds of explosions were heard in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Tuesday morning.
Residents living around Zannari in London Ciki and University of Maiduguri said the blast occurred withing their area.
3. The family of former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, has dismissed reports making the rounds claiming that the elder statesman is dead.

The family described the rumour of his death as “wicked”; stressing that the elder statesman is alive and well and is yet to be taken abroad.
4. Primary and secondary school students around Sabon Tasha, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on Tuesday embarked on a protest against the State Government over plans to sack thousands of teachers.
Governor Nasir el-Rufia had earlier declared that he would replace over 21, 000 teachers who failed the competency test recently conducted by the state government and replace them with new 25, 000.
5. Members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the House of Representatives have explained why they suspended their planned protest against President Muhammadu Buhari.

The party chieftains said they decided to shelve the planned protest because of the respect they have for the office of the president and speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
6. Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has pleaded with the United States of America to pay keen attention on the 2019 general elections in Nigeria.
The governor also told the country that the major problem retarding the growth of the country was poor attitude by the people and the insincerity of leaders.
7. The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington has assured the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose that his country will work with all stakeholders to ensure that elections are free, fair and credible in the country.
He said this during a visit to the Ekiti State Government House on Tuesday where he also commended Fayose on infrastructural development in the state.
Symington visited Fayose alongside his aide, Mima Torres, and was received in the governor’s office.
8. There was apprehension among riverine dwellers, yesterday, as the Nigerian Navy and Army deployed fighter jets and gunboats to the creeks and other strategic locations in Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, in response to last Friday’s threat by the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, to resume bombing of oil facilities.
Some oil servicing company workers, who returned to Warri from Escravos, on Monday night, told Vanguard that they sighted the massive build-up by the armed forces on their way back from work.
9. The Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday passed a law prescribing death penalty for anybody found guilty of engaging in cultism, while also revising upwards punishment for those aiding and abetting the practice.
The House also passed the 2017 Revised Appropriation bill into law at plenary on the floor of the House, at the Assembly Chamber in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
10. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, directed its downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC, to ensure steady supply of petroleum products across the country during the festive periods and well into 2018.
NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr. Maikanti Baru, assured the public that as the festive periods draw near, it would ensure a hitch-free supply of petroleum products nationwide during the season.