Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Saturday morning

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun on Friday urged Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke to shelve the contentious local government election Saturday slated for Saturday, today, to prevent bloodshed. Egbetokun, through the Force Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the Force has received credible intelligence indicating a high likelihood of violence and significant security threats should the election proceed in Osun State.

   

2. A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has stopped the zonal congress of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, scheduled to hold in Calabar, Cross River State on Saturday. The court ordered that the south-south zonal congress should neither hold in Cross River nor anywhere in Nigeria.

3. The National Working Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress has fixed the party’s National Caucus for Tuesday February 25 and the National Executive Committee for Wednesday February 26, 2025. This was contained in a notice signed by the National Secretary of the party, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Bashiru in Abuja on Friday night.

4. The House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has said that none of the 31 requests it received for state creation met the constitutional requirements. The chairman of the committee, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, who doubles as the Deputy Speaker of the House, disclosed this during a two-day retreat for members of the Committee in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State on Friday.

5. A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of $4.7 million, N830million, and multiple properties linked to Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Yellim Bogoro, who had earlier dismissed an application seeking to arrest Emefiele, granted the final forfeiture application of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, represented by its counsel, Bilkisu Buhari-Bala.

6. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the relocation of 29 custodial centres across the country. Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this while commissioning 39 mini Green Maria operational vehicles and five bullet resistance guard booths at the Nigerian Correctional Service headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

7. Organised Labour through the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has forced the Federal Government to reduce telecommunications tariff hikes from 50 percent to 35 percent. Reports says the reduction followed a meeting of the 10-man committee comprising government and NLC representatives at the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, on Friday, February 21, 2025.

8. The Defence Headquarters has said troops on internal security operations across the country have killed 82 terrorists and arrested 198 criminals within one week. In a statement released on Friday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen Markus Kangye, said the troops also rescued 93 kidnap victims in one week and recovered 86 high-calibre weapons and 2,040 weapons across the theatres of operation in the country.

9. The Council Chairman of Munya Local Government Area of Niger State, Aminu Najumei, has revealed that the council secretary, Daina Usman, who was abducted on Thursday night, managed to escape from his abductors on Friday. The council chairman, who made this known on Friday while reacting to news of his council secretary’s abduction, said Usman escaped from his abductors when the bandits were searching for a place to hide them.

10. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has returned $132,362.43 and N78,566,324.81 to victims of fraud from America, Spain, and Switzerland. Ola Olukoyede, EFCC Chairman, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja, explaining that the funds were recovered from local fraudsters. He stated that handing over the funds to foreign victims was part of the EFCC’s commitment to ensuring justice and restitution for those affected by fraud.