Nigerian Newspapers: 10 Things You Need to Know this Saturday, May 20, 2023

1) On Friday in Abuja, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, stated that the newly inaugurated N21 billion presidential wing of the State House Medical Centre will eliminate the need for future presidents and their families to seek medical treatment abroad. She said this when she joined President Muhammadu Buhari and other dignitaries at the Presidential Villa in Abuja to inaugurate the facility.

2) The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has dismissed Governor Bello Matawalle’s claims that he is being persecuted for refusing to pay a $2 million bribe to the commission’s chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa. Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC’s spokesman, issued a statement on Friday evening urging the outgoing governor of Zamfara to provide evidence to support his claim.

3) Attorneys for the troubled Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti have accused police of disobeying a court order by withholding the musician’s case file. In a statement released on Friday, the attorneys demanded that the Lagos State Deputy Commissioner of Police, Simon Lough, comply with the magistrate’s court’s order to send the artist’s case file to the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.

4) Mr. Peter Mbah, the incoming governor of Enugu State, has filed a N20 billion lawsuit against the National Youth Service Corps in the Federal High Court, alleging conspiracy, deceit, and misrepresentation of facts. On Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo stopped NYSC from revoking Mbah’s certificate in response to a motion ex-parte by Mbah’s attorney, Mr. Emeka Ozoani (SAN). Read More

5) The Federal Government has ordered the closure of the roads connecting the Federal Secretariat Complexes of Phases I, II, and III to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Friday, May 26 at 2:00 p.m. until Monday, May 29 at 6:00 a.m. Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, Head of the Service of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), stated this in an Abuja circular on Friday.

6) President Muhammadu Buhari has approved Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein’s appointment as the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF). This was stated in a circular issued by Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, the head of the Federation’s civil service. The letter is dated 19 May 2023 and was signed by Mallam Mohammed Abdullahi Ahmed, Director of Communications in her office, on Friday in Abuja. Read More

7) The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig Gen Y.D Ahmed, has stated that the discharge certificate Peter Mbah is displaying is a forgery. This was stated by Brig Gen Ahmed during an interview on Arise TV’s morning programme on Friday.

8) In the past three days, Mwaghavul Development Association (MDA), a socio-cultural organisation in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, reported that 125 bodies were recovered and buried in mass graves. This is consistent with the Plateau State Police Command’s claim that 117 bodies were recovered in total.

9) The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has initiated a nationwide crackdown on drug dens prior to the inauguration of the new government on May 29. According to Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, 534 drug suspects have been arrested during Operation Mop Up.

10) Dare Ogundare, commissioner of police for the Ekiti State Command, paraded 16 suspects arrested for various criminal activities on Friday. Four of them were apprehended on suspicion of kidnapping in the Oke Ako region of the state and portions of Kwara State.