Nigeria: Press focuses on relocation of Ex-S/Leone president to Nigeria, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Economic Community of West African States has said it will relocate former Sierra Leone President, Ernest Bal Koroma, to Nigeria on Thursday is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that the Economic Community of West African States has said it would relocate former Sierra Leone President, Ernest Bal Koroma, to Nigeria on Thursday.
This was contained in a statement signed by the ECOWAS Commission President, Omar Touray, dated Tuesday and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
The PUNCH reports that the ex-Sierra Leonean president was indicted in the failed coup of November 26, 2023.
On November 26, armed attackers stormed a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations, clashing with security forces.
Twenty-one people were killed and hundreds of prisoners escaped before authorities were able to regain control of the situation.
The violence sparked fears of another coup in West Africa, where Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea have all experienced putsches since 2020.
Sierra Leone on Tuesday charged 12 people with treason in connection with the coup attempt. Among the 12 is Amadu Koita, a former soldier and bodyguard of Koroma.
“The government of Sierra Leone will secure his residences in the various locations in Sierra Leone. The Government of Sierra Leone will consider refunding medical and travel expenses he has incurred.”
“While looking forward to Your Excellency’s favourable response, I take this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.”
The newspaper says that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, on Wednesday, declared that there was no plan to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.
NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said in a statement that Nigerians should disregard rumours of a possible hike in petrol price.
The oil firm further urged motorists not to be involved in panic buying, as it stressed that the company had no plan to raise the cost of the product.
The statement read, “NNPC Ltd assures the public that there is no imminent increase in the cost of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol.
“NNPC Ltd urges Nigerians to disregard unfounded rumours and assures them that there are no plans for an upward review of the PMS price.
“Motorists nationwide are advised against engaging in panic buying, as there is presently ample availability of PMS across the country.”
Some Nigerians had expressed fear following the revelation by oil marketers that the cost of petrol should be around N1,200/litre if it was not being subsidised, considering the cost of the commodity in other climes.
The Guardian reports that Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has said Nigerians are still waiting to experience the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, asserting that their hopes have been dampened in the face of the current parlous economy.
In a New Year statement yesterday by its president and secretary general, Festus Osifo and Nuhu Toro, the labour centre issued a 10-point demand from the current administration this year, stating that the outgone year was one long, excruciating litany of lost opportunities and dashed hopes.
Among the demands, it said all agreements between labour and government, including payment of monthly N35,000 wage award to public servants in local, state and federal services, must be implemented until a new national minimum wage is implemented.
TUC also asked that a new national minimum wage must be negotiated, implemented and if further delayed in the year, arrears must be paid.
The body recalled that in 2023, it strived to ensure that social dialogue with the Federal Government prevailed even when there were skeptics, who alleged the Tinubu administration could not be trusted to implement simple and basic agreements.
To allay the fears, it said organised labour insisted that the October 2, 2023 agreement between them and the administration be notarised, however, it accused the government of serially violating the pact.
Quoting item two, which states that “A minimum wage committee shall be inaugurated within one month from the date of this agreement,” TUC regretted that three months after, no such panel has been set up by the government.
“This was also our experience with this government in at least two previous agreements reached from June 2023,” it added.
The union demanded that inflation, which is currently at 28.20 per cent, must be drastically reduced to the sub-Saharan Africa’s regional average of 9.4 per cent.
It said government at state and federal levels should stop the “unnecessary, economically unwise and unpatriotic tradition of taking loans, especially when the loans only end up being used to purchase expensive jeeps for legislators, pamper members of the executive and their spouses, or in building unnecessary offices and purchasing mundane and sundry things, including stationeries.”
TUC urged the government to stop “its ill-advised devaluation of the national currency that is precipitating collapse of local industries, which need foreign exchange to import raw materials.”
The newspaper says that to avert incessant strikes and disruption of academic calendar in the nation’s tertiary institutions, the Federal Government has commenced talks with the various unions on how to ensure peace on the campuses.
Education minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, while highlighting the activities of his ministry since he came on board, said the government has begun to build trust with the unions to avert any strike action.
While expressing concern over epileptic delivery of academic activities Mamman said government has engaged in informal consultations with the unions and has begun to build trust with the many resolutions it has reached.
“No Nigerian would be happy with the incessant disruptions of academic calendar in our tertiary institutions due to unresolved agreements.
“Under the administration of President Bola Tinubu, we engaged in informal consultations with the unions and have begun to build trust as exemplified by the resolution of some issues,” he said.
One of the resolutions, the minister stated, was the 35 per cent increase in salaries of workers in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
He added that the payment of four months’ salaries from the eight months the unions were on strike in 2022, showed government’s determination to ensure that they begin to trust the Federal Government.
Mamman mentioned other resolutions as the exemption of tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and allowing the institutions to fill vacant positions.
GIK/APA