Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Ambassador Mohammed Dauda, former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), has accused his removal from office of being orchestrated by those he refused to release public funds to for personal use. Dauda moved the $44 million to the office of the National Security Adviser for three reasons: to protect Gen Jaafaru, to guard the controversial money, and to create a witness. He was recently re-instated as DG of the agency by the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal. Dauda challenged his removal in court, arguing that the dismissal was wrong and did not follow due process. The Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) ordered Dauda to be reinstated as head of the agency and pay his salaries and entitlements from March 2018 to date. Dauda attributed his sack to lack of godfatherism in government and alleged that the negative press against him was a plot to cover up ineptitude, nepotism, impunity, tyranny, and administrative rascality at the nation's apex Intelligence agency.

Following trenchants attacks on the nation s' judiciary, chief of nigeria CJN, Justice olukayode Ariwoola, has said public opinion no matter how serious or weighty cannot override or supersede constitutional provisions. while admonishing judges to always apply constitutional provisions in deciding each case that may be assigned to them, the CJN said judial officers owe the public and the nation a duty to always work with their conscience, their oath of office and the law while presiding on cases before them. He spoke at the supreme court in Abuja while inaugurating aniother batch of 23 judges for federal high court of Nigeria, yesterday.justice Ariwoola noted that several vitrolic attacks are regularly heaped on the judiciary but it was  crystal clear that public opinion, no matter how serious or weighty it might be, cannot override or supersede the constitution of the country which judges apply in deciding each case. This is bond that you should engrave in your heart and  be well guided by adjudicating in all matters that come before you. thus, your appiontments to the bench at this crucial period of our national history are not by accident but by divine ordination'',.CJN said.         

The recent demand for presidential amnesty to herdsmen and bandits in Nigeria has sparked reactions, with some Niger Delta activists arguing that there is no justification for comparing them to the Niger Delta freedom fighters of the past. They argue that herdsmen and bandits are criminals and cannot be equated to those who fought to liberate their people from oppressive Nigerian governments. One activist, Joseph Evah, disagrees with the proposal, stating that they are already enjoying amnesty in disguise. He also notes that the Federal Government gave them amnesty during President Goodluck Jonathan's time, but they have been collecting billions of naira in the name of nomadic education. He believes that the elites in the North are using the name of nomadic education to send their children abroad for more education. Another activist, Ankio Briggs, believes that the Niger Delta people are in a sad situation, comparing their agitation with businessmen who have decided to kill, rape, and occupy land. He blames politicians and leaders for running for presidency without knowing what they are supposed to do with these things.

Obi urged the court to hold that the petitioners, who claimed to have won in 13 states including Rivers, Benue, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), were the winners of the election. They claimed that INEC mischievously downloaded 18,088 blurred polling unit results, including blank A4 papers and photographs of unknown persons, in place of the presidential results. The results were obtained from 168 local government areas in 14 states of the federation. Obi argued that the non-compliance with relevant laws by INEC during the election significantly affected the result. He stated that the certified copies of the election results showed that the purported Forms EC8As in several polling units were affected by mutilations, cancellations, alterations, and outright swapping of votes in favor of President Tinubu and the APC. The respondents' reply to the petition was that the refusal to comply with the specific requirement of the law to upload/transmit election results using the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) from the Commission.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has endorsed the "Big Tech and Journalism: Principles for Fair Compensation" framework, which aims to streamline payment for news content inclusion on big digital platforms like Google and Facebook. The framework was adopted at a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, with support from journalists, media organizations, scholars, publishing groups, activists, and economists. The principles aim to be universal, serving as a framework for media sustainability through competition or regulatory approaches, while enabling adaptation to unique contexts. They also recognize freedom of expression as a fundamental human right and support public interest journalism as a public good. The conference focused on solutions to the crisis of journalism sustainability and its intersection with the role of major tech platforms. The principles emphasize the importance of public interest journalism, plurality in platform and publishing markets, diversity in the news publishing market, and sustainability in the news industry.

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has endorsed the "Big Tech and Journalism: Principles for Fair Compensation" framework, which aims to streamline payment for news content inclusion on big digital platforms like Google and Facebook. The framework was adopted at a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, with support from journalists, media organizations, scholars, publishing groups, activists, and economists. The principles aim to be universal, serving as a framework for media sustainability through competition or regulatory approaches, while enabling adaptation to unique contexts. They also recognize freedom of expression as a fundamental human right and support public interest journalism as a public good. The conference focused on solutions to the crisis of journalism sustainability and its intersection with the role of major tech platforms. The principles emphasize the importance of public interest journalism, plurality in platform and publishing markets, diversity in the news publishing market, and sustainability in the news industry.

President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, closed the defence of their February 25 election victory with the evidence of the Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, to deflate allegations and claims contained in the petitions file by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as Mr. Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP).

Before his testimony that drew the curtain on their defence to a close,  their legal team tendered some bundles of documents, including the February 4, 2003 letter from the US Embassy in Nigeria, clearing Tinubu of any criminal indictment or conviction in the United States.

The witness, however, noted that the US court relied on the American law dealing on money laundering in Tinubu’s forfeiture but stressed that it was a civil matter. APC lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi told the PEPC that it was his belief that there was no need to call witness after Olanipekun and that APC had established its case and “we are not calling any witness.”

Anxiety is growing among President Bola Tinubu and his presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, as judgment day approaches at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC). Both candidates challenged the declaration of Tinubu as president by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and argued that he was not qualified to contest due to forfeiture of proceeds from drug trafficking, money laundering in the US, declaration of allegiance to another country, presenting a forged university certificate, perjury, and inability to win the highest votes cast in the election. Obi also alleged that Vice President Kashim Shettima was already the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Borno Central. Atiku's final address, settled by his lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, stated that INEC's assertion that he won 21 states was neither disputed, retracted, or debunked. The former VP accused the electoral body of manipulating the election outcome in favor of Tinubu and the APC, urging the court to stand on the side of justice. Atiku's teams described Tinubu's statement as cheap, misguided, and destructive blackmail, threatening anarchy if the election was nullified. The tribunal should proceed to uphold the declaration, as the electoral umpire claimed that he won 21 states in the last presidential poll.

The Nigerian Supreme Court has dismissed petitions by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, alleging that they failed to dethrone President Bola Tinubu. Justice Haruna Tsammani ruled that double nomination was not a constitutional ground for disqualification, and Obi and his party failed to prove election irregularities, non-compliance with laws, and corruption. The court also dismissed Obi's claim that he was not validly nominated by the Labour Party to contest the presidential election. The court also ruled that the $460,000 fine imposed on Tinubu in the US was a civil matter.

The Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja has dismissed four petitions against Governor Siminalayi Fubara's election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Fubara the winner of the gubernatorial election, polling 302,614 votes. Four other candidates and their political parties challenged Fubara's victory, seeking nullification. The three-man panel dismissed all four petitions and affirmed Fubara's election. The tribunal dismissed petitions by Tonye-Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Beatrice Itubo, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs and his Accord Party (AP), and governorship candidate Innocent Ekwu for lack of merit, jurisdictional grounds, and incompetence. The tribunal also awarded a cost of N500,000 against the petitioner and in favour of the respondents. The tribunal threw out two issues raised by the petitioner for being incompetent and lacking in merit. Tonye-Cole of the APC had asked the tribunal to sack Fubara from office, but the tribunal held that nomination of a candidate is an internal affairs of a political party. The tribunal noted that the APC had withdrawn its petition against Fubara, leaving only Cole to challenge the outcome of the election.