Today's National Newspaper Headlines/News - 8/5/2015

National Newspaper headies don land......have a great weekend!

PUNCH

***Mu’azu At War With Fayose

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Adamu Mu’azu, and Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose took to their Twitter handles on Thursdayto tackle each other over the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 election.

Fayose had on Tuesday claimed that he had evidence that   Mu’azu   connived with the APC to ensure the defeat of   Jonathan at the polls. He went ahead to ask Mu’azu to resign.

But angered by the governor’s call and claim, the PDP   Chairman   dared Fayose, to provide evidence of the allegations he (Fayose) levelled against him.

Mu’azu said   that it was the hate campaign which Fayose targeted at Buhari that cost Jonathan the Presidency.

While daring Fayose to provide the evidence, he said, “Fayose said he has evidence that I, Mu’azu, worked for the APC. I hope it is not the kind of evidence he once said he had that Buhari was dying.”

Mu’azu said he repeatedly warned members of the PDP to run an issue-based campaign but overzealous supporters of Jonathan opted for hate campaign against Buhari.

Fayose was one of Buhari’s most vociferous attackers. He once claimed Buhari was too sick to rule and might die in office like former Heads of State Umaru Yar’Adua, Murtala Muhammed and Sani Abacha.

The PDP chairman said, “You will all recall that I warned members of our presidential campaign organisation to stop the hate campaign.

“I challenge Governor Fayose to come out with evidence that shows that I, the national chairman, worked with the APC during the elections.”

Mu’azu said it was unfortunate that Fayose was the one leading the call for his removal.

According to him, the same party leaders, including himself, helped Fayose to secure victory against the then Governor Kayode Fayemi on June 21, 2014.

***APC Govs Fault Okonjo-Iweala On Unpaid Salaries

The All Progressives Congress has called on the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to probe the individuals responsible for the inability of government to pay workers’ salaries.

The Imo State Governor and Chairman, APC Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha, said this on Thursday.

He said that President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, must take responsibility for unpaid salaries and the poor state of Nigeria’s economy.

Also, two APC governors faulted the claim by the Federal Government that many state governments could not pay salaries because they did not prioritise the payment of workers’ salaries.

They included Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi; and his Osun State counterpart, Rauf Aregbesola.

Speaking in separate interviews, the governors on Thursday laid the blame for the inability to pay workers’ salaries on the doorstep of the Federal Government.

Okorocha decried a situation where state governments had found it difficult to pay workers’ salaries, maintaining that the President and the minister should own up to their mistakes.

The governor, who spoke on Thursday through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemedo, argued that Okonjo-Iweala should not have shifted the blame since the complaint of the inability to pay salaries was also coming from some of the Peoples Democratic Party-controlled states.

Okorocha said, “God has begun to do something for Nigerians. The man, Buhari, who is coming in now, is a person who does not joke with discipline. When you talk about discipline, it is all-embracing. He will bring financial discipline into the system.

“By the time the man takes off, most of these things would be corrected. When the man at the helm of affairs is disciplined, invariably, other people must follow. Have you asked yourself the issue of the missing $20bn? All of a sudden, it was linked to somewhere. Nigeria is a rich country because God blessed this country. It will only take a strong leadership to get things moving.

***Patience Jonathan Now In Congo, Says Presidency

The Presidency on Thursday morning broke its silence on the whereabouts of President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Patience.

The Media Assistant to Mrs. Jonathan, Mr. Ayo Adewuyi, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja said the President’s wife is currently in Congo.

He said Mrs. Jonathan was in the country to join her colleagues from Africa for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of a non-governmental organisation, Congo Assistance Foundation, floated by the Congolese First Lady, Madam Antoinette Sassou-Nguesso.

Adewuyi however did not indicate when Mrs. Jonathan arrived Congo or when she is expected back in Nigeria.

He only said his principal was received on arrival by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Congo Brazzaville, Princess Onipede, in company of top Congolese officials.

The President’s wife has not been seen attending any public event inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja, since her husband lost his re-election bid in the March 28 presidential election.

She was conspicuously absent during the Good Friday and Easter Sundayservices held inside the Aso Villa Chapel.

Mrs. Jonathan did not also join her husband for the funeral service held in honour of his top aide, Oronto Douglas, in Yenagoa last Saturday.

While she voted alongside her husband in the presidential election in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, she stayed back in her home state, Rivers, during the April 11 governorship election.

She had expressed fears ahead of the elections that she would be thrown into prison if Muhammadu Buhari wins the election.

The Presidency had so far kept mute on her whereabouts, therefore, giving room for speculations.

***Transition: Jonathan’s Handover Notes Not Yet Ready, Says APC

With barely 22 days to the May 28 handover date, the transition committee set up by outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan has yet to meet its counterpart, set up by the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

This is even as it has come to light that the handover notes, which the Buhari team is to study and ask questionson, are not yet ready.

It was gathered in Abuja on Thursday that the bickering between the two teams over terms of reference of the Ahmed Joda-led Buhari Transition Committee is largely responsible for the stalemate.

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, confirmed this in a statement he made available to newsmen in Abuja.

Mohammed, who is a member of the Buhari Transition Committee, explained that while the Jonathan Inauguration Committee had been meeting with its counterpart in the Buhari team, “its transitional committee has yet to even meet with ours.”

****Jonathan, Buhari hold secret meeting

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday night met behind closed doors with the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.

The meeting was held inside the President’s office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

That was the third time the two leaders would be meeting after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Buhari winner of the March 28presidential election.

The Wednesday meeting, just like the first one they had on a public holiday (Good Friday), was described as “private” and so it was not opened to journalists.

Buhari was said to have arrived for the meeting in a convoy of about four cars at about 9pm.

The meeting was said to have lasted less than 30 minutes.

Although there was no official communication on the meeting, it might not be unconnected with the ongoing transition programmes and preparation for Buhari’s inauguration on May 29.

At the end of their second meeting, Jonathan had told State House correspondents that a date would be picked during which he would conduct Buhari round the Presidential Villa before his inauguration day.

*Nigerian pilots file flight plans manually – Minister

*Supreme Court halts constitution amendment

*Power failure forces Reps to

adjourn sitting

*EFCC arraigns FCT minister’s ex-aide for N60m fraud

*UI students on the rampage over colleague’s death

*Fashola apologises, seeks understanding on policies

*Jonathan advises Buhari against policy reversal

*FG orders verification of workers’ records

*Poll: S’Court delivers judgment in Omisore’s appeal May 27

*FIFA ranking: Nigeria still 45th

*Lawsuits pile up over Pacquiao injury

*FG to make insurance compulsory for mortgage loans

*28-year-old lady escapes from ritual killers

*Policeman’s son arrested for murder

*Businessman crushed to death during police stop -and-search

*Graduate goes missing after graduation

*Jonathan’s last-minute appointments improper–Sagay

*Plateau APC accuses INEC of colluding with PDP

*Don’t sideline Yoruba, groups tell Buhari

VANGUARD

*JTF nabs two ships with 4.2m litres of crude oil

*No To Culture Of Entitlement

As Aregbesola puts together new cabinet

*German commits life savings to building medical centre in Ondo

*‘Arrogance, mediocrity, bane of Nigerian youths’

*We’ll fight smuggling to standstill, Customs vows

*Allison-Madueke on firing line

*Industrialist to Buhari: Tackle corruption, not fuel subsidy

*N7bn Lekki-Epe Int’l Airport suffers set back

72% of Nigerian children suffer from anaemia —Nutritionists

*UI students protest colleague’s death; mob, rob journalists

*Election: PDP lost to lack of internal democracy, says ex-Security Adviser

BUHARI GOVT: Eyeing Lagos

template to solve power crisis

*CBN to raise N150.6bn in treasury bills

*I have no beef with Olamide— Lord of Ajasa

THISDAY

*Supreme Court Orders Stoppage of Constitutional Amendments

*Akiolu: I Intervened in the Tinubu, Fashola Feud

*Senate Presidency: Sarak's Support Base Swells

*Rescued Women Tell Tales of Hunger and Lack

*Jonathan Promises to Link State Capitals with Rail

*Senate Passes Oil and Gas Amendment Bill to Promote GDP

*Judiciary Security: IG Sets up Judges Protection Units

*Boko Haram: SERAP Asks Jonathan to Provide Good Medicare for Pregnant Women

and Children

*Sultan Deploys Four District Heads in Sokoto

*Amosu: Air Force to Monitor, Control Multiple War Operations from Abuja

*FG Grants Licences to Edwin Clark, Hezekiah Universities

*Supreme Court to Deliver Judgment in Omisore's Appeal on May 27

*Ekiti Assembly Crisis: Court Strikes out APC Lawmakers' Suit against Fayose,

Others

*Incessant Power Outage Halts House Session

*Surulere Residents Drag EKEDC, NERC to Court over Outrageous Bill

*$242 Scam: Appeal Court Reserves Judgment on Nwude's Assets

*Ekweremadu Tasks Universities on Academic Excellence

*Tribunal Grants Ex-Governor Nnamani's Motions

THE NATION

*Fuel tankers stall Apapa traffic

* 'Armed robber' held in Lagos church

*Lagos chief greets Ambode, Amosun

*Presidency, APC in row over May 29 transition

THE GUARDIAN

*NUPENG seeks establishment of pipelines protection agency

*'STF at war with militia, not civilians in Plateau'

*Experts decry dearth of laboratories in Nigeria

*NDLEA arraigns official, man for trafficking 2.692 kg cocaine

*Govt introduces video tutorials for secondary schools

*NCC tasks incoming National Assembly on infrastructure bill

*NCP directs BPE to work with NIAF for funding

*Obanikoro lists ECOWAS' achievements at 40

*UK repatriates three Nigerian prisoners, Niger deports 6000

*Vigilance group kills 29 suspected B'Haram insurgents