By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Challengers to Tinubu Election Battle on at Supreme Court
The Supreme Court in Nigeria, after hearing arguments from attorneys of Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi on Monday, put off the judgment for another day. Atiku of the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] and Peter of the Labour Party [LP] were Tinubu’s opponents during the last presidential election.
The duo is challenging Tinubu’s win, alleging irregularities and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run, among others. The country’s election tribunal rejected their claims on September 6. Atiku and Obi appealed to the Supreme Court to strike down the tribunal’s ruling.
No legal challenge to the outcome of a presidential election has succeeded in Nigeria, which returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost uninterrupted military rule and has a history of electoral fraud.
● Governor advocates for citizens to wield arms for self-defence
Governor Dikko Umaru Radda of Katsina, a northwestern State in Nigeria, says Nigerians should be allowed to bear arms in self-defence as a counterpoise strategy in the face of the deteriorating security situation in the country. Gun ownership in Nigeria is limited to the military and police under the country’s laws. In recent times, Nigeria’s northwestern region has been under siege by marauding terrorists and attacks on citizens are happening with alarming regularity.
“If a bandit can go to the market and buy an AK-47, RPG, and all of those weapons, what of the people that want to protect themselves? They too should equally be allowed to do so,” Governor Radda said. Radicalized bandit gangs carry out attacks in many remote communities in Katsina and other northern states often taking advantage of the inadequate security presence in those areas.
● Gas price soars to N626.21 per liter in Nigeria
Nigerians now pay N626.21 [$0.728] per liter for gas [petrol], after paying N238.11 [$0.276] for the product early May. The price of gasoline has witnessed an upsurge since President Bola Tinubu scrapped the costly petrol subsidy on May 29.
Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics [NBS] on October 21 reported that the average retail price of a litre of petrol jumped from N191.65 [$0.222] in September 2022 to N626.21 in September 2023. This represents a 226.75% increase.
In August, gas sold for N626.70 per liter. The subsidy had kept gas prices cheap for decades but became increasingly costly – the government spent N7.6 trillion ($8.8 billion) last year – leading to wider budget deficits and multiplying government debt.
Read more: https://punchng.com/petrol-price-rose-to-n626-21-in-september-nbs/?amp
● Terrorists kill customs officer in Northeast Nigeria
A gang of suspected Boko Haram jihadists in gun trucks and on motorcycles attacked the Nigerian Customs Service [NCS] – the functional equivalent of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection – office in Geidam County of northeast Yobe State and killed a customs officer.
Gunshots came like rain when the terrorists stormed the building Saturday night, according to the Guardian. “The relentless gunfire caused panic, with the officers desperately seeking safety. Some managed to escape through the gate, while others resorted to scaling the fence to evade the assailants,” Nigerian media quoted a source as saying.
The attackers set fire to the official patrol van, a power generator, and part of the building. Geidam town is located about 18.6 miles from the Nigeria–Niger Republic border.
Read more: https://guardian.ng/news/terrorists-attack-customs-house-kill-officer-in-yobe/amp
● Nigeria to begin student loan programme in January
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria has said the implementation of the Nigerian student loan scheme will commence in January 2024. Nigeria joined the ranks of nations offering student loans in June after President Tinubu assented to the Access to Tertiary Education Act, also known as the Student Loan Act, by lawmakers.
“By January 2024, the new student loan programme must commence,” the Nigerian President said in Abuja on Monday. Government officials said the initiative will enable indigent students to access federal government loans to fund their university education, in parallel to the system in the United States.
The Nigerian government earlier planned to start the loan disbursement in September [last month].
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Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
