Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The Federal Government on Wednesday announced a 50 per cent reduction in transportation costs along 22 interstate routes during the Yuletide season. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
2. The House of Representatives has expressed readiness to investigate the loss of over $60bn revenue due to alleged inflated cash calls by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Joint Venture Agreements. As a result, the House mandated the relevant committees to conduct a thorough probe of all the NNPCL Joint Venture operations.
3. The Rivers State House of Assembly, on Wednesday, withdrew its impeachment notice against Governor Siminalayi Fubara. The 26 lawmakers loyal to ex-governor Nyesom Wike said their decision followed the intervention of President Bola Tinubu on Monday.
4. The House of Representatives is setting up a committee to look into discrepancies in the remittances of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board into the coffers of the Federal Government. The decision to set up the committee followed the non-reconciliation discovered in the books of the examination body and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
5. Chibok town, Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, is in the news again following a fierce attack by Boko Haram insurgents, on Tuesday evening, killing two persons and injuring scores. Chibok was for the first time in the global news in April 2014, when the insurgents stormed the Government Girls Secondary School there and abducted over 300 students.
6. A 19-year old boy has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend with a knife for refusing to pay her N5,000 for an affair they had. The suspect, Muhammad Ibrahim, a resident of Sabon Layi, Kano Road, Bauchi State, was said to have stabbed his girlfriend around her upper chest region at a brothel in Bayan Gari situated within the metropolis.
7. Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Wednesday, declared Ebonyi-South and Yobe-East districts’ seats vacant. The two seats were vacated by Senators Dave Umahi and Ibrahim Geidam, following their appointments by President Bola Tinubu as ministers.
8. Police operatives attached to Ojo Division area of Lagos State, on Wednesday, December 20, arrested one Imo Lawrence and his ally, Magnus Nwonka, allegedly involved in manufacturing fake drinks in the state. It was learnt that Lawrence aged 35 and Nwonka aged 42 were in possession of fake drinks.
9. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday urged the Senate to consider and confirm 11 nominees for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court. President Tinubu’s letter of request was read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The National Judicial Council (NJC) had recommended the 11 nominees for the President’s approval to fill the vacant positions at the apex court, following the death and resignation of some justices.
10. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has not increased the registration fee for its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for 2024. The board said the cost of buying the UTME form remained N3,500, despite an increase in its cost of production.
