National daily newspapers in Nigeria today, November 17 focused on different stories from the ASUU strike to the foreign loan request of $29.9 billion from President Muhammadu Buhari.
Vanguard newspaper is leading with a report that All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives, yesterday, expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling party by opposing passage of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, virement of N180 billion for critical infrastructure and the foreign loan request of $29.9 billion from President Muhammadu Buhari, during their caucus meeting, last night.
The APC caucus in its closed-door meeting expressed dissatisfaction with the manner the Presidency and the party’s leadership had handled executive/legislature face-off which members said had made APC members, with the majority number in the National Assembly, look like an opposition party.
Out of over 200 members of the APC in the House of Representatives, only 25 members attended the caucus meeting presided over by House Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila. But Gbajabiamila, alongside the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun and the Deputy Chief Whip, Pally Iriase, had a hectic time trying to pacify aggrieved party members at the meeting, explaining that things would change for the better.
‘Everybody’s aggrieved’ A lawmaker, who was part of the meeting, told Vanguard on condition of anonymity: “Everybody is aggrieved. We said we are not going to pass the MTEF and virement. We said we are not going to approve the $29.9 billion loan request from the President.”
Punch is leading with a report that the Federal Government has amended the charges it preferred against a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, raising fresh allegations of money laundering charges involving N505m against him.
The amended charges with case number FHC/ABJ/CR/232/2016, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, raised the number of counts from 10 to 14, alleging that the sum of N505m was part of the proceeds of Ngwuta’s “unlawful” activities.
The Justice of the Supreme Court was accused of transferring the total sum of N505m “denominated in naira and US dollars” to a building contractor between January and May 2016.
The prosecution alleged that the Justice of the Supreme Court transferred the total sum of N130m to Nwamba Linus Chukwuebuka, a building contractor, on January 4, 2016.
Ngwuta was also accused of transferring the sum of N165m to Chukwuebuka “on or about April 2016”.
He was further accused of transferring another sum of N100m to Chukwuebuka “on or about April 2016”.
He was also charged with transferring the sum of N110m to the same person “on or about May, 2016”.
As alleged in the old set of charges, Ngwuta was accused in the amended charges of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596 and £25,915 during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8.
Punch is leading with a report that the Federal Government has amended the charges it preferred against a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, raising fresh allegations of money laundering charges involving N505m against him.
The amended charges with case number FHC/ABJ/CR/232/2016, filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, raised the number of counts from 10 to 14, alleging that the sum of N505m was part of the proceeds of Ngwuta’s “unlawful” activities.
The Justice of the Supreme Court was accused of transferring the total sum of N505m “denominated in naira and US dollars” to a building contractor between January and May 2016.
The prosecution alleged that the Justice of the Supreme Court transferred the total sum of N130m to Nwamba Linus Chukwuebuka, a building contractor, on January 4, 2016.
Ngwuta was also accused of transferring the sum of N165m to Chukwuebuka “on or about April 2016”.
He was further accused of transferring another sum of N100m to Chukwuebuka “on or about April 2016”.
He was also charged with transferring the sum of N110m to the same person “on or about May, 2016”.
As alleged in the old set of charges, Ngwuta was accused in the amended charges of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596 and £25,915 during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8.
Daily Sun is reporting that the National Assembly opted to give accelerated consideration to President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for N180 billion virement to fund 2016 budget. The lawmakers are likely to approve the virement next week.
The National Assembly leadership met on Tuesday to consider Buhari’s $29.96 billion loan request considering the fact that the Presidency may have released N100 billion for the lawmakers to execute their constituency projects.
It was that spirit that informed the swift consideration of the virement request.
Subsequently, the request was referred to the Committee on Appropriations and other relevant committees for further legislative action.
The unanimous adoption of the motion for Request for Virement of Funds Appropriated in the Appropriation Act, brought to the floor by House Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, was the major fallout of Tuesday’s meeting of the principal officers of the Senate and the House.
Guardian leads with this report that Academic activities in the nation’s universities were paralysed yesterday as lecturers made good their threat to begin a warning strike.
Classes were empty in University of Ibadan (UI), University of Abuja, University of Uyo, Bauchi State University, University of Lagos, Lagos State University (LASU), and Niger Delta University, Bayelsa.
Students of the Faculty of Education, at UI, who had their examinations postponed indefinitely, were seen in various halls discussing the strike. Their teachers were available, but boycotted classes in faculties of Education, Arts, Science, Technology, Agriculture and the Social Sciences.
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