Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Balance and Equity Group (BEG) has urged South East politicians and technocrats to declare their intent to contest the 2023 presidential election. They have put structures in place to conduct a Presidential Interest Debate (PID) for all aspirants to select the best and acceptable candidate of Igbo extraction to be presented to Nigerians. They have commended Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi, former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim and former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu for declaring their interest, promising that any Igbo aspirant who emerges would make a good president for the country. Kalu has also been pressured to run for the presidency and visit President Muhammadu Buhari. Kalu is waiting to see if the APC cedes the presidency ticket to the South, while HURIWA has urged Nigerians to reject Umahi's presidential ambition, saying he is one of the worst civilian governors in Nigeria.

Nigeria has dropped in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranking released by Transparency International (TI). The country scored 24 out of 100 points in the 2021 index, ranking 154th out of 180 countries surveyed. CISLAC Executive Director Auwal Ibrahim Musa cited security sector corruption, high level of financial recklessness, abuse of budgetary processes and failure of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to follow due process of appropriation as reasons Nigeria was ranked low in the CPI. He also called for the National Judicial Council (NJC) to ensure that officers appointed are competent and qualified. The NJC should shun nepotism in its appointment of judges and take disciplinary actions against them, while the Auditor General revealed that N49 billion was spent by nine MDAs without appropriation by the National Assembly. The government should also address the shrinking civic space and clampdown on freedom of speech, as well as the arbitrary and illogical decision to ban Twitter for seven months. Finally, systemic corruption in the Nigeria Police Force has continued unabated, putting the country in bad light.

The coalition of Northern Groups, Students' Wing (CNG-SW) has threatened to shut down the region over the recent hike in tuition fees by tertiary institutions across the Northern states. The group also demanded the Northern elite and other stakeholders to speak up against the passage of the Education Loan Bill as the sustainability of the loan is not guaranteed. The group has taken time to assess the dangers the hike in tuition would pose to Nigerians, especially to the Northern region, which has been abandoned to the mercy of rampaging banditry and insurgency. The North is being held to ransom by bandits, and the hike in tuition is part of a calculated plan to weaken the region educationally and pauperise it economically. This will lead to massive dropouts and return millions of youth to the streets, while returning students will have to give up their dreams of higher education.