Nigeria: Press zooms in on Tinubu’s response to his certificate sage, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
President Bola Tinubu’s request to the Supreme Court to discountenance his Chicago State University academic records attached by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, to his election petition appeal, saying it is alien to the judicial proceedings in the country dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that President Bola Tinubu has asked the Supreme Court to discountenance his Chicago State University academic records attached by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, to his election petition appeal, saying it is alien to the judicial proceedings in the country.
Tinubu asserted that the CSU discovery was not part of the record or the judgment of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, urging the apex court not to admit it.
The president further said the former vice-president had the habit of first filing a petition and afterwards hunting for evidence, noting that he had exhibited that while appealing the tribunal judgment.
The president in his response to Atiku’s appeal filed Saturday by his lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun, SAN, held that the claim that his credentials contained discrepancies was merely cooked up by the PDP standard bearer in the February presidential election.
He said, “Appellants’ submission under paragraph 6.45 of their brief further exposes the entire attitude of the appellants before the lower court, that is, the attitude of first filing a petition and then fishing for evidence during the pendency of the petition and even up to the point of appeal to this honourable court.
“Without prejudice to our objection to this issue, we submit that the arguments regarding a purported “Case No. 1:23-CV05009-Re: Application of Atiku for an Order Directing Discovery from Chicago State University…” is alien to these proceedings, does not arise from the record or the judgment of the lower court and cannot be countenanced by this honourable court and we urge the court to so hold.”
The newspaper says that the Central Bank of Nigeria has said it is raising dollar supply in the foreign exchange market, just as it also lifted the ban on 43 items that were previously not qualified for forex at the official market.
The decision came after the naira tumbled to 1,050/$ at the parallel market on Thursday, following pressure from international organisations and experts.
The PUNCH earlier noted that despite unifying exchange rates, the CBN had in June said that the status quo remained on the 43 non-eligible items banned from the forex market introduced under the former governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Nigerians imported not less than nine items worth N18.12tn from the forex ban list of the CBN between 2016 and 2022.
According to an analysis of Nigerian Foreign Trade reports of the National Bureau of Statistics from 2016 to 2022, items such as crude palm oil, vegetable products, animal products, meat, vegetable fats and oil, steel products, rubber, plastic, clothes, and textiles were imported from various countries.
In a different report, The PUNCH stated that despite the unavailability of forex for banned items by CBN, Nigerians imported five items worth N543bn in the first quarter of 2023.
However, different economic experts and organisations have repeatedly advised the CBN to remove the forex restrictions.
The Guardian says that the Nigerian Government has assured investors in the country of the determination of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to ensure adequate power supply across the country, especially in industrial clusters.
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, gave the assurance, yesterday, during the Agbara Business Roundtable held in Agbara, Ado-Odo-Ota Council of Ogun.
Shettima spoke just as the Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Chiedu Ugbo, said the company has launched a new bilateral power supply project, tagged Light up Nigeria programme, aimed at revolutionising power supply in Nigeria, providing businesses with reliable and sustainable energy solutions, targeting the supply of 200MW of electricity to commercial and industrial clusters.
Shettima said the country holds tremendous opportunities for not only investors but also the people.
The event was to launch an initiative to ensure dedicated power supply to industrial clusters across the country, starting with Agbara Industrial Estate.
Shettima said that it is embarrassing that the Agbara Cluster relies on other sources of power supply outside the national grid, adding that the Federal Government through the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) is committed to ensuring that clusters like Agbara benefit from a cheaper means of generating power in their various factories.
The Vice President, who is the Chairman of Board of Directors of NDPHC, promised that the Agbara Industrial Estate will have a steady power supply in the next four months.
He said: “I am here to reassure the business community that we mean business. I want to give you my word and my word is my bond. If you need 200 Megawatts, 300 Megawatts, we can give it to you.”
He charged the staff of NDPHC to double their efforts by ensuring the delivery of the Agbara Industrial Cluster power programme in three to four months.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian government raised concerns about the negative effects of climate change, saying it is the single largest contributor to insecurity in the agricultural sector.
The government observed that insecurity in the North-East and other regions in the North stemmed from the devastating effects of climate change, but noted that these challenges were being tackled in a sustainable manner by the government.
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, raised the concern on Thursday at the Sahel Food Systems Change-makers’ Conference in Abuja, with the theme, ‘Rethinking Food and Nutrition Security in the Face of Climate Change: Scaling Innovations and Driving Urgent Public-Private Partnership Actions’ in Abuja.
The minister said, “Climate change over the decades has been responsible for not only consequential effects on food systems but has been the single largest contributor to insecurity in agriculture.
“What is increasingly recognised as a Sahelian problem from Mauritania to Mali, Guinea, Niger Republic, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and up to the other side of the Atlantic, is mostly climate change driven.”
He noted that the competition for agricultural space was causing conflict, as farmers could no longer find enough land for farming in the way they used to, including those in the fishing and pastoralist communities.
Bagudu also expressed the dangers of overlooking the impact of climate change not just on health and well-being but on nutrition outcomes.
“So climate change is real and we need not to be reminded that if we don’t do something it will affect us,” Bagudu stated, stressing that the consequences of climate change in food production and nutrition were even felt in the Southern communities.
GIK/APA