• 2023 Elections: I will be a stepping stone for Igbo presidency – Atiku
• Electoral Offences Bill will be ready soon – Senate
• Wike recovers Rivers aircraft from Germany
• CBN raises interest rate to 15.5%
• Peter Obi visits Ooni of Ife

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn‘t miss:

2023 elections: I will be a stepping stone for Igbo presidency -Atiku

Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said on Tuesday that if elected in 2023, he would actualize an Igbo presidency.

On Tuesday, Abubakar made the vow during the PDP South-East Zonal Stakeholders’ Meeting in Enugu.

He stated that his passion for Ndigbo was so strong that he chose Igbo men as running mates in the 2011 and 2019 elections.

Abubakar went on to say that he had picked another Igbo man, Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate for the 2023 election.

“So, why do you say I will not give Igbos a fair chance to the lead the country after my tenure as president?

“I did that in 2019 when I brought Obi and another Obi in 2011 and for 2023 I chose Ifeanyi Okowa, another Igbo man as my running mate, even when Ohaneze said no Igbo should contest for Presidency under PDP.

“My brothers and sisters, I don’t address you anymore as ladies and gentlemen but brothers and sisters, it is clear that you cannot fall my love for Igbo nation,” Atiku said.

The PDP candidate stated that he has backed candidates from the South-West, North-West, and South-East for president at various times.

He added that the country must be made more appealing in order for citizens to stay and give their fair share to its development.

Abubakar remarked that if elected, his administration would provide quality education to educate adolescents with the necessary skills and competencies for a contemporary economy.

If elected, the PDP presidential candidate promised to provide a quality healthcare system.

Electoral Offences Bill will be ready soon – Senate

The Senate has guaranteed that the Electoral Offenses bill would be ready for the 2023 general and presidential elections.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja during the screening of Residents Electoral Commissioners (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Kabiru Gaya, APC, Kano South, stated that the committee was working around the clock to ensure that the electoral body conducts credible elections in 2023, noting that the committee had already forwarded the Electoral Offences Bill to the House of Representatives Technical Committee.

Gaya, who noted that preparations for the 2023 general election were well underway, stated that it was an opportunity to prepare Nigerians for social, political, and economic advancement.

The Committee yesterday assessed the 19 nominees offered for confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari, five of whom are reappointments and fourteen of whom are new appointments.

However, petitions were filed against the nominations of Muhammad Lawal Bashir of Sokoto, Pauline Onyeka Ugochi of Imo, and Dr. Oliver Tersoo, alleging that they were card-carrying members of registered political parties in the country.

Remember that in July, President Muhammadu Buhari submitted the names of 19 nominees to the Senate for approval as Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa), Obo Effanga (Cross River), Umar Ibrahim (Taraba), Agboke Olaleke (Ogun), and Samuel Egwu are the renewal nominees for confirmation.

For the fresh appointment, the nominees are Onyeka Ugochi (Imo); Muhammad Bashir (Sokoto); Ayobami Salami, a professor, (Oyo); Zango Abdu (Katsina); Queen Agwu (Ebonyi); and Agundu Tersoo (Benue); Yomere Oritsemlebi (Delta); Yahaya Ibrahim, a professor, (Kaduna); Nura Ali (Kano); Agu Uchenna (Enugu); Ahmed Garki (FCT); Hudu Yunusa (Bauchi); Uzochukwu Chijioke, a professor, (Anambra); and Mohammed Nura (Yobe).

Wike recovers Rivers aircraft from Germany

The Legacy 600, a Rivers state-owned aircraft purportedly abandoned in Germany under murky circumstances by the previous administration, has been found and returned to Rivers.

Governor Nyesom Wike stated on Tuesday, upon receiving the aircraft flown into the Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area, that his administration was not engaging in petty politics in the recovery of the aircraft.

Wike underlined that it required meticulous intelligence collection by his administration to locate the asset, stating that his predecessor and previous Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, flew the aircraft to Germany without providing his administration with any documentation of the event.

“To the glory of God, the plane is back and Rivers people can see, Nigerians can see, it is not that we are playing politics. All we are saying, is we never knew, nobody told us until we got intelligence that we have this asset somewhere.

“What is very important to all of us here today is that when we came into power in 2015, nobody handed over any report or gave us handover note to let us know where such asset of the State was, only for us to hear in 2019 that this asset is somewhere.

“Of course, we did everything we could do and we told Nigerians that the grace of God we will not allow this asset to go that way. We must return it for the people of the State to decide what they are going to do with it.

“I am so elated that at the end of the day, all of our struggles are not in vain. I think Rivers people for the support. I thank the Rivers State House of Assembly for the support. I thank the Executive for the support.

“But for their support, it would not have been possible to spend the money we spent. If you hear the money we spent, it’s money that would have been put in other development projects if we were told on time of it”, Wike said.

CBN raises interest rate to 15.5%

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 15.5 percent, from 14 percent in an aggressive move to fight inflation in the country.

The Governor of CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this while briefing the press at the end of the 5th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in 2022, in Abuja, yesterday.

He also announced an increase in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to a minimum of 32.5% from the July CRR of 22.5 percent, while retaining the Liquidity Ratio at 30%.

Mr. Emefiele said, “The committee voted unanimously to raise the MPR…The MPC voted to raise the MPR to 15.5, and retain the asymmetric corridor at +100 -700 basis points around the MPR. Increase the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to a minimum of 32.5% and retain liquidity ratio at 30%.”

On why the rate was raised, he said, “Members deliberated the impact of the widening margin between the current policy rate of 14 percent and the inflation rate of 20.52 percent.

“At this meeting, the option of reducing the policy rate was not considered as this would be gravely detrimental to reigning in inflation. The committee thus agreed unanimously to raise the policy rate to narrow the interest rate gap and rein in inflation. The committee thus voted unanimously to raise the MPR.

“10 members voted to raise the MPR by 150 basis points, one (voted to raise it) by 100 basis points, and one by 50 basis points. 10 members voted to increase CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) by 500 basis points, while two members voted to increase it by 750 basis points.”

Explaining further why the committee raised the rate, the governor said, “The MPC noted with concern the continued aggressive movement in inflation, even after the rate hike at its meeting in May and July 2022, and expressed its unrelenting resolve to restore price stability, while providing the necessary support to strengthen the fragile recovery.

Peter Obi visits Ooni of Ife

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi on Tuesday visited the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi in his palace in Ile-Ife.

Obi visited the monarch alongside his running mate, Datti Baba Ahmed.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, expressed his admiration for Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, for making youth development the focus of his platform.

According to a statement issued by Ooni’s spokeswoman on Tuesday, the monarch, while hosting the former Anambra State Governor at his Palace in Ile-Ife, Osun state, underlined that any community desiring growth must prioritize youth development and capacity building.

“Right from my first day as the Ooni I openly dedicated this revered throne to the youth population and I have been matching the promise up with actions in form of programmes and several initiatives geared towards empowering our youths because they are our future.

“I am glad that you recognize that fact and I pray that God Almighty grants your heart desires.” The Ooni said.

Earlier in his speech, Mr. Peter Obi praised the Ooni for the warm reception and asked the electorates to go above religious and ethnic feelings while choosing the country’s future leaders in 2023.

Obi, who bemoaned the nation’s current status, urged Nigerians to pick a better future for themselves by voting for the proper set of leaders.

“To the Nigerian youths, it is now your turn to take this country from them, choose the right leader that would take the country to his promised Land. your title, Nobody is entitled to take it from you, if they give you money, take it, they are only paying parts of their debt.”

“Nobody should vote for me because am an Ibo man, southeasterner or because of my religion. There is no tribe where people are eating free food, buying bread cheaper or exempted from the excruciating hardship currently being experienced in the land.” The Presidential candidate said.