These are these stories you should be monitoring today:

The Ogun Government late Tuesday, dispelled rumours on social media that the former Head of Interim National Government, Ernest Shonekan, is dead.

Describing the report as a “lie from the pit of hell,” Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, in confirming that the elder statesman is still alive, said Governor Ibikunle Amosun has spoken with Shonekan who reportedly told the governor that he is hale and hearty.

Following the earlier report of his death on social media, tributes had already been pouring in for the British-trained lawyer and industrialist.

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The House of Representatives during its plenary on Tuesday resolved to set up an adhoc committee to probe the crisis as well as leadership and operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to prevent the NHIS from degenerating into a crisis-ridden agency.

Similarly, Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu says the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, and the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, had intervened in the NHIS crisis, with a view to finding lasting solutions.

Disclosing this on Tuesday in Abuja on Channels TV Sunrise Daily, Shehu sad the NHIS crisis is complicated because of the ethnic and political dimension it has assumed, with the aid of some interest groups within and outside the agency, adding however that there are opinions suggesting that the board follow due process in suspending the NHIS Executive Secretary, Usman Yusuf.

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The Federal Government says it is considering the introduction of a policy that would limit the number of children, a mother in Nigeria could have, adding that traditional rulers and other leaders across the country were being engaged on the development.

Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, who revealed this on Tuesday while responding to questions at the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, said that the country’s population had been identified as one of the great challenges confronting the successful implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government.

“And we hope that with their support, we will get to a point where we can come out with the policy that limits the number of children that a mother can have because that is important for sustaining our growth,” she said.

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Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto has said that considering the enormous constitutional responsibilities of the National Assembly, it needs more funds in order to effectively discharge its responsibilities in line with public expectations.

Tambuwal who made this known in a lecture he delivered at the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Abuja, explained that as much as Nigeria operates a presidential system of government, the funding of the national assembly remained meager.

“I’m sure this may not go down well with a large percentage of the populace but we cannot run away from the fact that the national assembly requires more funding,” the former Speaker of the House of representatives stressed.

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 National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to investigate and prosecute him over an allegation that he diverted public funds to his personal use.

Also challenging the locus-standi of the Applicant to file the suit against him, he maintained that the Applicant failed to show how actions he took while in office as Governor, “affected him over and above other residents and indigenes of Edo State,” Vanguard reports.

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And stories from around the world:

US President Donald Trump has called Saudi Arabia’s response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi “the worst cover-up ever,” adding that whoever organised the plot “should be in big trouble”.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, shortly afterwards, that the US “will punish those responsible” and is revoking visas of 21 identified suspects. (BBC)

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Similarly, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump was asked about the powerful crown prince’s possible involvement in the murder.

“Well, the prince is running things over there more so at this stage. He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him,” the president responded. (Al Jazeera)

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Thousands of Honduran migrants heading to the United States — a caravan President Donald Trump has called an “assault on our country” — stopped to rest Tuesday after walking for two days into Mexican territory. (AFP)

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Ecuador does not plan to intervene with the British government on behalf of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in talks over his situation as an asylee in the South American country’s London embassy, Ecuador’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. (Reuters)

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China has signed a free trade agreement memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Palestine, China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday in a statement posted on its official website. (Reuters)