Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Saturday morning

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

1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has departed the United Kingdom for Paris, France, where he is expected to attend an “important engagement”. This was disclosed by his Senior Special Assistant on Political and other matters, Ibrahim Kabir Masari.

2. The Borno State Police Command, has re-arrested a 28-year-old convict Kyari Kur (aka Henry), who escaped from prison following the flood disaster that hit Maiduguri, the state capital in September 2024, which led to the collapse of the prison’s fence. Kyari Kur was serving a jail term for criminal conspiracy and theft at the Medium Security Custodian Center in Maiduguri. An unspecified number of inmates escaped after the flood incident.

3. The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has taken a turn for the worse with leaders locked in suspension and counter-suspension. On Friday, members of the National Working Committee, NWC, suspended the party’s Acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum and the Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, over alleged anti-party activities and their role in Rivers State political logjam.

4. The All Progressives Congress, APC, on Friday suspended the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, along with its 2019 Bayelsa governorship candidate, David Lyon, due to alleged anti-party activities. These suspensions came after a disciplinary review by the party’s leadership in Bayelsa State.

5. The Nigerian government has announced that petroleum marketers can now purchase Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) directly from Dangote Refinery. The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and Chairman of the Naira-Crude Sale Implementation Committee, disclosed this in a statement through the Ministry’s official X account on Friday.

6. Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, has dismissed recent speculations of internal divisions within the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Mohammed assured that the PDP is actively working towards resolving internal issues through collaboration among key party stakeholders.

7. The naira depreciated against the dollar at the foreign exchange market to end the week on a negative note. FMDQ data showed that the naira weakened to N1641.27 per dollar on Friday from N1622.57 exchanged on Thursday, recording N18.7 loss.

8. A Nigerian, Oludayo Adeagbo, has been sentenced to seven years in prison in the United States over a multimillion-dollar business email compromise scheme. This was disclosed by the US Department of Justice in a release from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri.

9. The federal lawmaker representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency, Terseer Ugbor, has filed a N1 billion defamation lawsuit against the Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia. The suit was submitted on Friday to the Benue State High Court in Makurdi. Also named in the suit (MHC/422/2024) are the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Tersoo Kula and another media aide, Isaac Uzaan.

10. A suspected car thief, Joseph Ada, arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command, has disclosed that he intends to use the proceeds from selling his former boss’ car to fund his father’s burial. This was disclosed in a statement made available on the RRS Facebook page on Friday.