Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Senators have rejected President Bola Tinubu's request to deploy Nigerian troops to the Niger Republic as part of an ECOWAS force to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum. The coup leaders were given a seven-day ultimatum to restore constitutional order or face force. Nigeria imposed sanctions on the coup leaders, cutting electricity supplies and closing its borders. West African defense chiefs had drawn a plan for military action, which President Tinubu wrote to the Senate for permission to involve Nigerian troops in. Senators agreed to pass a resolution condemning the coup and commending ECOWAS leaders on their efforts to restore constitutional order in Niger, but ruled out military options. They urged President Tinubu to intensify negotiation with the coup leaders and send elderstatemen as special envoys to dialogue. They also argued that Nigeria's military is ill-equipped and not prepared to fight war, and that Niger is the highest arms market in Africa.

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has called for an urgent reform of the justice system in the country, saying it was worried that public confidence in the judiciary remained at very low levels.The legal body, in a communique it issued to mark the end of its 63rd Annual General Conference, AGC, further demanded an upward review of the remuneration of judges across the federation.It recommended that issues involving the remuneration of judicial officers should not only be separated from the public sector, but also removed from the purview of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC.Conference also recommended an independent salary scale for judicial officers. Conference recommends that urgent attention be paid to the plight of magistrates and other lower court judges, the NBA stated in the communique that was read to newsmen yesterday by its National President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN.Conference recommended practical strategies to address security concerns. These include community involvement in policing, youth engagement through job creation, enhanced regional cooperation, media sensitization, comprehensive police reforms, religious school regulation, strengthening the judiciary, and observance of human rights.The adoption of state security forces, proper land management, international resource acquisition, and meticulous implementation of approved plans were also suggested,” the communique further read.

The Supreme Court in Abuja is set to hear separate appeals filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to nullify President Bola Tinubu's election victory. Atiku filed 35 grounds of appeal to challenge Tinubu's victory, while Obi filed 51 grounds. Both parties are seeking to set aside the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which dismissed their petitions. Atiku argued that the PEPC's verdict was against the weight of evidence and that it occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against him. He accused the PEPC panel of gross misconstruction and misrepresentation of provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022. Obi argued that the PEPC panel erred in law when it dismissed his petition, stating that it wrongly evaluated the proof of evidence he adduced and occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice. Both parties also accused the PEPC of breaching their right to a fair hearing. President Tinubu and the APC have since asked the apex court to dismiss the appeals they said were bereft of merit.

The Nigerian Federal Government has requested the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria to cancel their planned nationwide indefinite strike from October 3, citing a court injunction violation. The National Economic Council has appealed to both parties to continue negotiations at the state level. The government has instituted contempt proceedings against labor leaders, but they were not prosecuted further.