The appeal by President Muhammadu Buhari to the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners to support the One Planet Summit initiative and activate the $19 billion pledge is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Nation newspaper reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners to support the One Planet Summit initiative and activate the $19 billion pledge, which will be utilised for land restoration, tree planting, development of climate resilience infrastructure and investments in small and medium sized farms.
Buhari spoke in Abidjan, the Cote d’Ivoire capital yesterday, at a side event he convened at the ongoing United Nations (UN) Conference Of Parties (COP-15), in his capacity as the President of the Conference of Heads of State and Governments of the member states of the Pan African Great Green Wall Agency (PAGGW)
He underscored the importance of recharging Lake Chad, now down to 10 per cent of its water volume, as 11 Sahel African states discuss ways and means of accessing and utilising the cash for the activities of the PAGGW.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari said “the inter basin transfer of water from Central Africa to the lake Chad should be taken seriously,” urging the secretariat of the agency, funders and the soon-to-be appointed consultant to carry out the measure to restore the socio-economy of the more than 30 million people of the Lake Chad basin area.
“As it is at the present,” the President informed the meeting, “the drying up of the Lake Chad had destroyed fish farming, animal husbandry and crop agriculture leading to social and economic dislocation with serious consequences for peace in the basin area. This has led to migration to Europe by many, creating problems for you over there. These should engage your attention as a committee,” the President said.
The Punch says that former President Goodluck Jonathan has rejected the N100 million All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms bought for him to contest the 2023 presidential election by nomadic Fulani pastoralists and Almajiri communities.
Jonathan’s Media Adviser, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, in a statement on Monday, said it was an insult for the community to buy the forms for him without his consent.
The statement was in reaction to the earlier purchase of the forms for the former president to contest the party’s ticket with other aspirants for the 2023 presidential election.
“It has come to our notice that a group has purportedly purchased Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms of the APC in the name of former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“We wish to categorically state that Dr Jonathan was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it.
“We want to state that if the former president wanted to contest an election, he would make his intentions clear to the public and will not enter through the back door,” Eze said.
The newspaper says that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has asked Nigerians to prepare for the worst fuel crisis.
To avoid this, the petrol marketers association asked the Federal Government to prevail on the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to pay its members their outstanding bridging claims amounting to over N500 billion.
The IPMAN chairman in Kano State, Bashir Danmalam, made the remarks while addressing a news conference in Kano State on Monday.
He said the failure of the NMDPRA to pay the the bridging claims, otherwise known as transportation claims, had forced many of its members out of business as they couldn’t transport the commodity due to high cost of diesel.
He lamented that non-payment of the claims by NMDPRA for over eight months had crippled the businesses of many of their members as they couldn’t transport the commodity even though it was available.
The Guardian reports that a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), to appear before it on Thursday, May 12, to explain why the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, should be disqualified from running for President in 2023.
Emefiele is one of 25 persons who have indicated interest to run for president on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He, yesterday, through his counsel, Mike Ozekhome SAN, applied for an order of status quo ante bellum to be made against INEC and AGF so that he would not be made to resign from office until 30 days to the general election.
In an ex-parte application argued on Monday, Emefiele denied being a political appointee but a public servant not caught by Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The CBN governor asked the court to invoke Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution to bar the defendants from asking him to vacate office until 30 days to the February 2023 presidential election.
Emefiele expressed apprehension that sale and submission of presidential nomination form would expire on Wednesday and that unless the AGF and INEC are ordered to maintain status ante bellum as at May 5, when he filed the suit, he would be made to vacate office before his form would be accepted by the appropriate authority.
However, in a brief ruling, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, turned down the request for the order. Instead, the judge ordered him to put the defendants on notice and also serve court processes on the defendants.
The newspaper says that the country’s football stakeholders, yesterday, lambasted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over an alleged fine of $1,045,000 (about N433,873), which world football governing body, FIFA, imposed on the country for the unceremonious dismissal of German coach, Gernot Rohr, in December last year.
Rohr, who qualified the Super Eagles for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), as well as the final round of Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, was sent packing on the eve of the showpiece in Cameroun following complaints by some Nigerians that his team was not inspiring enough.
A media report yesterday reported that FIFA ordered Nigeria to pay Rohr a princely sum of $1,045,000 (about N 433,873,550.00) over his unlawful dismissal.
Quoting a close confidant of Rohr, the report stated that FIFA had already ruled on the case with claims that the NFF had no ‘justifiable reason’ to have terminated his contract.
Reacting to the development, former Green Eagles winger, Adegoke Adelabu, described it as ‘very sad.’ “If it is true that FIFA has fined Nigeria such a huge amount of money, it goes to show that officials of the present NFF board do not know what they are doing. It is sad, very sad.”
Adelabu, who played club football with IICC Shooting Stars, added that such fine coming from FIFA should knock a lot of sense into the head of those running Nigerian football.
GIK/APA