The outburst of President Muhammadu Buhari over wasted money on constituency projects and the plan to regulate internet usage are some of the leading stories in the Nigerian press on Wednesday.
The Punch reported that President Muhammadu Buhari is unhappy that there is little to show for over N1 trillion budgeted for constituency projects of the National Assembly members in the last 10 years.
Buhari spoke at the National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public Sector, which was organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, in conjunction with the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in Abuja.
The Sun said the Department of State Services (DSS) has accused the convener of RevolutionNow, Omoyele Sowore, of capitalising on the latitude of freedom provided to him at the service’s detention facility to use his telephone to mobilise Nigerians for revolution and violence against the government.
At a press conference at the service’s headquarters in Abuja, public relations officer, Peter Afunanya, faulted claims by Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) that he was at the DSS to secure the bail of Sowore and was refused.
ChannelsTV quoted the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, as saying that the Federal Government will mandate the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to come up with new regulations for internet and mainstream broadcast organizations.
The minister disclosed this in Abuja after he received reports from the committee inaugurated last month to study and make recommendations on the government’s proposals to reform the NBC.
The Guardian said Nigeria’s oil and gas sector was facing a dismal future as projects worth over $163 billion remain in limbo amid worsening investment drought.
The development, which has already created a booming market for other smaller and emerging oil and gas countries in Africa, might not only quash Nigeria’s leading role in hydrocarbon on the continent, but also undermine its oil reserves, production projection and create job losses.
ThisDay said that telecoms operators across networks, witnessed inward porting in September, the highest recorded in the last eight months, according to statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The NCC report showed that a total of 14,375 telecom subscribers switched networks in the month under review.
The Daily Trust reported that six years ago, the Federal Government unbundled the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and handed over 18 utility firms to private investors. Government raked in $2.5 billion (about N916.575bn) from the transaction involving six Generation Companies (GenCos) and 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos).
The private investors personally collected their share certificates from the then President Goodluck Jonathan and took over the management of the assets from November 1, 2013.
The Nation newspaper said 21 traditional rulers (Obas), who emerged through the review of the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration, may surrender their crowns based on a new court judgment that set aside the gazettes that backed their elevation.
The judgment, which was an out-of-court settlement, may bring to an end the two-year-old disharmony within the Olubadan-In-Council and the Ibadan traditional Obaship system.
MM/GIK/APA