Top 10 Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Tuesday, 20th April, 2021
Below Are Top 10 Nigerian Newspapers Headline for Today 20th April 2021
1. Sanwo-Olu explains why Amotekun is not in Lagos state
The Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said operatives of the Neighbourhood Safety Corps, are doing Amotekun’s work in the state.
Sanwo-Olu stated this while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics at the Lagos House.
According to him, apart from community policing, LNSC operatives also engage in border patrol.
It’s just a name change. I appreciate what my colleague governors are doing. They also appreciate the peculiar nature of Lagos.
“I have over 7,000 neighbourhood watch personnel in Lagos, who are doing exactly the same thing Amotekun are doing.
“They are there at the border posts giving us daily monitoring in their localities and feeding it back to the central. They are the ones feeding us with information. But they cannot carry arms and prosecute people.
“The borders that I have in Lagos are outside of the Atlantic Ocean is Ogun state,” Sanwo-Olu said.
2. 2 suspects providing medical services to bandits arrested in Kaduna
The Kaduna State Government on Monday said two people suspected of providing medical services to bandits have been arrested by the police in Buruku, Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
The State government said at least three people were killed by gunmen in different locations in the state within the last 48 hours.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the development in a statement on Monday said in one of the attacks, bandits invaded Rafin Roro village in Kajuru local government area and killed one person.
3. Lawyers March To National Assembly As JUSUN Begin Nationwide Protest
GoldenNewsNg gathered the Members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday has reportedly staged a protest to the National Assembly in solidarity with the judicial workers who are protesting for financial autonomy.
At the Nigeria capital, the JUSUN members converged at the gate of the court of appeal in Abuja, chanting solidarity songs and displaying placards.
Top on the list of their demands is the issue of financial autonomy to the judiciary. They are also demanding for the payment of peculiar allowances to their members.
JUSUN had since April 6, 2021 locked courts in Nigeria because of the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary as the third arm of government.
The union had challenged the Federal and State governments who have over the years declined to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary.
The NBA President on Friday directed its branch chairmen nationwide to lead “visit” to government houses in their states over the 36 governors’ unwillingness to implement judiciary’s financial autonomy.
4. No Going Back On Judicial Autonomy – Senate Tells State Governors
The Senate on Monday asked governors across the 36 states of Nigeria to save the nation’s democracy from collapsing by granting full Independence to the judicial arm of government.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, stated this while reacting to the protest staged at the National Assembly by the Nigerian Bar Association on the issue.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last year, signed into law, the Executive Order No 10 of 2020 cited as “the implementation of financial autonomy for state legislature and judiciary Order, 2020”.
The Order granted powers to the Accountant-General of the Federation to deduct from the allocations due to a state from the Federation Account, any sums appropriated for the legislature or judiciary of that state which the state fails to release to its legislature or judiciary as the case may be, and to pay the funds directly to the state’s legislature or judiciary concerned.
Speaking with journalists, Bamidele said judicial autonomy was non-negotiable and that state governors should emulate the Federal Government by granting independence to the arm of government.
5. UTME 2021: Remita Commences Sale Of e-PINs To JAMB Candidates
Remita, a payment platform, has commenced the sale of Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) ePINs to candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions.
This follows a recent announcement by the examination body, the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB), of the sale of ePINs for UTME and Direct Entry (DE) registrations till May 15, 2021.
6. INEC Blows Hot, Threatens To Blacklist Parties Over Violent Congresses
Political parties unable to conduct peaceful congresses and engage in violent fiascos that threaten lives and destroy property will be blacklisted.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made this known in a statement on Monday by its spokesman, Festus Okoye.
According to Okoye, the electoral body may not recognise the outcome of violent congresses if the trend continues in the country.
He added that INEC may also withdraw its staff from monitoring such violent political party meetings, with the resultant non-recognition of their outcomes.
He said the commission’s properties are being destroyed in the aftermath while the lives of participants and its staff are endangered.
7. FG Didn’t Have Enough Money In March But This Is What We Did – Finance Minister
The federal government of Nigeria has shed more light on what transpired between the central and state governors as regards the allocation sharing for March 2021.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed disclosed that when it was discovered that there was a shortfall of N50 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the state governors wanted the federal government to borrow the shortfall from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
She however disclosed that the federal government rejected the idea of the state governors and insisted that they go manage what each of them got.
Ahmed also disclosed that the government usually takes money from reserve accounts but in March, there was no sufficient fund accrued in those accounts.
She made the revelations on Monday during an appearance on ‘Good Morning Nigeria show’, a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme while reacting further to claims by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State that the government printed N60bn t augment the March FAAC distribution to states.
8. Local Government Workers Petition Buhari, Expose Secret Plot To Deduct Over N100billion
Association of Local Government workers of Nigeria has alleged that some firms including Ted Edwards Isegohi, against a court order, are making a “fraudulent claim of $159 million” from the 774 LGA allocations.
GoldenNewsNg gathered that the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria has sent a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari revealing how some firms want to enforce the deductions of more than N115 billion from the allocations meant for the 774 local government areas from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
9. NNPC Says No Plan To Increase Petrol Price In May
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, on Monday, disclosed that the price of petrol will not be increased in May.
NNPC has maintained an ex-depot price of N148/litre since February despite the increase in the price of petrol, hence incurring a subsidy of over N120bn monthly.
Ex-depot price is the cost of petrol at depots, from where filling stations purchase the commodity before dispensing to final consumers.
Kyari in his statement further stated that Petroleum Tanker Drivers have suspended their proposed strike after the intervention of NNPC in the disagreement between the PTD and the National Association of Road Transport Owners.
10. President Buhari Promises Help And Support For Niger Republic
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday promised the President of the Republic of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum of commitment to stabilize the region.
The Nigeria President stated this while receiving his Nigerien counterpart who visited him in Abuja on his first international visit.
Buhari in a statement released through his spokesman, Femi Adesina, said, “We will stabilize our region for the benefit of the two countries.”
The President said Nigerians and Nigeriens are people with similar culture, language and ways of life, “and we also share about 1,500 kilometres of land border, so we cannot ignore each other.”
Buhari who congratulated Bazoum on victory in the presidential election in his country, vowed that Nigeria would assist its close neighbour in diverse ways as required.
