The sustenance of the current value of the Naira, pre-testing of the $2 billion Fertilizer plant and the bill to grant immunity to lawmakers are some of the leading stories in the Nigerian press on Wednesday.
This Day reported that a new report has revealed that the devaluation of the Naira (Nigerian currency) is unlikely in 2020 despite being overvalued by about nine percent and the deteriorating external position.
It also reported that the Dangote Fertilizer Limited has begun countdown to the inauguration of its $2 billion Granulated Urea Fertilizer complex, with several critical sections of the plant going through various stages of pre-commissioning and test-run.
The Leadership said that after a four-year trial, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja has convicted former national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, for corruption.
The court handed him 39 years imprisonment for the various offences that he was charged. Metuh will, however, spend only seven years behind bars due to the order of the court.
The Nation said one time spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Olisa Metuh was on Tuesday sentenced to 36 years in prison for money laundering.
Besides the jail term, Metuh was fined N375 million and his company, Dextra Investment Limited, fined N25 million. Dextra is to be wound up and all its assets transferred to the Federal Government, the judge ruled
The Daily Trust reported that in a bold effort to integrate the Almajiri pupils into the free and compulsory primary and secondary school education programme, Kano State Government has banned street begging in the State.
Channels Television reported that a bill seeking to extend immunity to cover presiding officers of Legislative Institutions has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.
The Sun reported that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that it would mobilise Nigerians to resist any form of increment in the electricity tariff, be it in form of Value Added Tax (VAT) or others.
The Guardian said that the House of Representatives has passed a vote of no confidence in the nation’s service chiefs, asking them to resign their appointments with immediate effect.
The lawmakers also urged the executive arm of government to, as a matter of urgency, reorganise the entire security architecture of the country to reflect the existing realities
The Punch quoting the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, said that apart from inadequate personnel, the Nigeria Police Force needed no fewer than 1,000 armoured personnel carriers and 250,000 assault rifles with corresponding ammunition.
MM/GIK/APA