Daily News Roundup

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the completion of the sale of Polaris Bank. Osita Nwanisobi, CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

-The Federal Government has filed seven grounds of appeal against the October 13 Court of Appeal judgment which discharged the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. It asked the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment and restore the charge against the respondent to be tried at the trial court.

-. Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has said that due to many expectations Nigerians have of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, she is not sure if the government has met them. Aisha stated this in an interview with the BBC, saying that this is the reason she apologized to Nigerians.

-. The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Liz Truss has resigned after spending just 45 days in office. Her resignation comes after a key minister quit and MPs rebelled in chaotic parliamentary votes, BBC reports.

-. Troops of the Nigerian Military attached to Operation Hadarin Daji have neutralised one of the notorious bandits in Zamfara. The bandits’ commander, identified as Ibrahim Chire terrorised places like Gando, Gwashi, Bukkuyum and Anka general areas. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Must Danmadami, in a statement issued Thursday night, explained that the terrorist was killed during a gun-duel with the military.

-. Members of the Senate Public Accounts Committee have slammed the Police Trust Fund for spending N550 million on office renovation and furniture from the N3.2 billion it collected from the Service Wide Votes. The committee is investigating 252 agencies over the spending of N5 trillion from the Service Wide Votes (SWV) between 2017 and 2021.

-The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on Thursday, dismissed reports that he replaced six suspended departmental directors at the secretariat with his friends and allies. Adamu made the clarification at a media parley with journalists at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

-The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Prof Benard Odoh, on Thursday, narrowly escaped assination by suspected hoodlums in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Odoh, who narrated his ordeal to newsmen in Abakaliki, said he received a distressed call from his supporters that the council chairman of Izzi LGA barred him from coming or campaigning in Izzi land.

- Many people were injured yesterday when the police fired teargas canisters at people who converged to commemorate the second anniversary of #EndSARS protest. Outside the teargas canisters, popularly known as smoke, the police were also accused of firing gunshots to disperse the mammoth crowd that converged at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos.

-. Manchester United yesterday confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of their squad for the trip to Chelsea this Sunday. This was confirmed in a statement released by the club on Thursday

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There are indications that the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, may affect the conduct of the 2023 general elections in the Southeast.

Deji Adeyanju, an Abuja-based rights activist, said Kanu’s release may affect the momentum of the 2023 elections in the Southeast.

An Appeal Court in Abuja had ordered Kanu’s release after discharging and acquitting him of all terrorism charges.

Following the ruling, there has been mixed reactions that Kanu’s release and continued detention may affect the 2023 elections in the Southeast.

However, Adeyanju said Kanu might never order his followers to vote or support any politician if released.

Speaking with Daily post, Adeyanju said: “His continued incarceration might not affect the 2023 general election except if he has access to social media in detention which is most unlikely.

“However, I think it’s Nnamdi Kanu’s release that is likely to tilt the election the other way. If he is released, I think the political momentum in the Southeast will douse down, and it will be counterproductive to Obi.

“That is why you can see that Obi’s supporters did not celebrate when the Court of Appeal ruled that he should be released.

“They saw that he would spoil their momentum if he is released, and you can understand that politically speaking; because Kanu will not likely not ask people to vote or support a politician.

“We all know his stance over the affairs of Nigeria, but that is not to say that even from prison, if he begins to issue certain directives to his followers, most of them would not comply.”.''

from daily post