Inside Nigeria: Facts and updates you should know, Thursday morning

Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos, are to be held accountable henceforth for poor power supply in the country, the Federal Government said yesterday. Tough sanctions, including licence revocation, await them, Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu threatened.

2. Crisis is brewing between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Plateau State Governor, Caleb Muftwang over the refusal of the House of Assembly Speaker, Gabriel Dewan to inaugurate 16 members elected on the platform. The National Working Committee, NWC, on Wednesday drew a battleline with the governor, accusing him of backing the Speaker in his bid to delay the swearing in of the lawmakers.

3. Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday led the nation to mourn former Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe, his wife and son, saying he conquered all there was to conquer. Shettima’s eulogy for the Wigwes was contained in a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Information, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha.

4. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has blamed the current inflation in the country on printing trillions of naira during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari “without productivity.”

5. The United Nations, UN, on Wednesday confirmed the abduction of female Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Borno State. Mr Mohamed Malick Fall, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the UN in Nigeria, in a statement last night, said about 200 women were kidnapped from the camp.

6. Edo State House of Assembly has commenced the impeachment process against the state deputy governor, Philip Shaibu. The petition for the impeachment of the deputy governor was read by the Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, at a plenary session on March 6, 2024.

7. There are strong indications that the organised Labour will push for N500,000 as the minimum wage as the zonal public hearing on the new wage structure begins on Thursday (today) in Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, and Abuja.

8. Zamfara State Government has vowed to prosecute the 10 suspects arrested by police operatives over their alleged involvement in the killing of an Islamic scholar, Abubakar Mada, in Mada town, Gusau Local Government Area of the State. The spokesperson for the state governor, Sulaiman Idris, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

9. Following the killing of over 50 people in fresh attacks on some communities in Benue State by suspected terrorists and the rising insecurity across the country, the Senate on Wednesday reached a resolution asking the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly to urgently seek audience with President Bola Tinubu to find lasting solutions to the security challenges facing the country.

10. There is a looming scarcity of passport booklets due to a cash crunch, it was learnt on Wednesday. Service providers are owed billions, while printed booklets are stuck in warehouses over debts. Also, bureaucratic bottlenecks over the remittance of Nigeria Immigration Services, NIS, share of revenues from passport issuance have become a major obstacle.