Top Nigerian Newspaper Reviews Today, Wednesday 8th February 2023

1. With about 16 days to the general election, there are strong indications that the new naira notes scarcity may disrupt the exercise. The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu said this during a meeting with the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele at the CBN headquarters, Abuja, on Tuesday.

2. Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has made a U-turn on the availability of Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium for the PDP presidential campaign. The governor had earlier revoked the access granted to the PDP Presidential campaign council.

3. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has discovered N258 million stashed in the vaults of a bank amid the ongoing cash scarcity in the country. Azuka Ogugua, spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, who disclosed this, said the money, all new naira notes, was found in the vault of the Abuja head office of Sterling Bank.

4. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it will not do anything inimical to the success of the 2023 general elections. CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, gave the assurance when he hosted the INEC management led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the commission.

5. Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, was yesterday thrown into chaos as angry youths blocked some roads, set bonfires and destroyed political billboards in protest against new naira notes scarcity. It was gathered that the protest followed the growing hardship created by the naira and fuel crisis in the country.

6. There was a major shake-up in the Nigeria Police Force, yesterday, following the posting and redeployment of senior police officers between the ranks of Commissioners of Police and Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, DIGs, to various Police Commands, Departments and formations across the Country.

7. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned candidates who desire to sit for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to create their profiles and proceed to complete their registration as the sale of ePINs will close on Tuesday, February 14.

8. Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje yesterday raised the alarm that ”anti-June 12 elements” were bent on scuttling the nation’s democracy. He said the elements were “regrouping and dangerously masquerading” in the prevailing crisis generated by the new cash policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to achieve their goal.

9. A Federal Bureau of Investigation’s agent, Mr Ayotunde Solademi, on Tuesday told an Ikeja Special Offences Court how one Kolawole Erinle allegedly defrauded Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in the United States of $1.4m. The witness, a Foreign Service national investigator for the FBI, Office of the Legal Attaché in the US Consulate in Nigeria, said the university became a victim of spoofing.

10. A 40-year-old man, Usman Mohammed, has been arrested by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Gombe State Command, for luring no fewer than 12 children whose ages range from five to 10 years old. Mohammed, who is a resident of Liji in Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area of the State, allegedly specialised in having carnal knowledge of minors.