• Nightclubs, Event Centers Sealed in Lagos State over Safety Violations
• NDLEA intercepts 399 explosives bound for Kaduna, suspect detained
• Passengers Experience Gridlock, Express Anguish over Intl Flight Relocation
• LP seeks clarification from PEPC regarding copies of judgment issued to APC
• Nigeria will need ₦21trn to bridge housing deficit- VP Shettima

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

Nightclubs, Event Centers Sealed in Lagos State over Safety Violations

The government of Lagos State has shut down eight nightclubs and event centers in the Ikeja and Victoria Island regions of the state.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Director General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, revealed that the directive to shut down these facilities has come with the interest of public safety at heart. 

He emphasized the commission’s total dedication to ensuring the protection of lives and property, and added that the commission’s objective is to achieve zero accidents in workplaces and public facilities.

Mr Mojola added that the administration commanded by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has zero tolerance for safety law violations and will continuously monitor such facilities to ensure compliance with established safety laws. 

NDLEA intercepts 399 explosives bound for Kaduna, suspect detained

On Thursday, September 7, agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency recovered no less than 399 improvised explosive devices from Asana Leke, 39, along Mokwa-Jebba Road.

The suspect, who claimed the explosives were given to him in a park in Ibadan, Oyo State, to be delivered to someone in Kaduna, was conveyed to the military authorities of Niger State along with the exhibits.

NDLEA state commands and other formations continued the anti-narcotics agency’s anti-drug abuse advocacy campaigns in schools, places of worship, palaces, and local communities, among others, in addition to their various drug control efforts.

The NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, informed PUNCH Metro of the development in an official email received on Sunday. He additionally stated that NDLEA operatives intercepted shipments of skunk hidden in tomato pastes, and methamphetamine hidden in used clothing meant for export to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

“While the cargo of skunk in tomato paste weighing 20 kilogrammes was intercepted on Friday, September 8 at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, the shipment of meth weighing 1.60 kilogrammes was seized at a courier company in Lagos.

“Another shipment of 556 grams of Canadian Loud sent from Canada to one Tunji Adebayo in Ikorodu, Lagos, was also intercepted by NDLEA officers assigned to courier firms from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation.

“Adebayo was not present when agents visited his residence at 52, Aina Atoloye Street, Ikorodu, but he instructed his younger sibling to accept the package on his behalf. “The brother was arrested immediately,” said Babafemi.

Recall that on Monday, September 4, NDLEA agents raided the enclave of a notorious drug lord in Akala, Mushin, Lagos, Abdul Rauf, alias ‘Na God,’ recovering 1,101 kilogrammes of Ghanaian Loud and arresting three suspects, while the fugitive kingpin remains at large.

Passengers Experience Gridlock, Express Anguish over Intl Flight Relocation

Owing to the directive of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, last month, international travelers have expressed anguish and experienced gridlock and discomfort while embarking on travels both outbound and inbound.

It can be recalled that the Minister directed all international airlines to vacate the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, from October 1, 2023. He ordered the airlines to begin immediate relocation of their ticket sales office to terminal two constructed by the Chinese Consortium to give space for the commencement of the renovation of the International airport.

This announcement however, has led to chaos and pandemonium amongst both airlines and travelers as they struggle to manage ongoing operations in the new terminal, which possesses less capacity than the old terminal.

One of the leading causes of the pandemonium is the new terminal’s inability to accommodate large aircrafts like the Boeing 777, with the jet bridges installed only able to take small planes. During a visit to the airport by Aviation World, travelers could be observed backed up along the taxiway with their luggage, waiting to be summoned up for check-in.

In a conversation with Gearge Uresi, Chief operating officer of Ibom Air, he disclosed that the new terminal’s passenger capacity is nowhere near 14 million. According to him, the new terminal has substantially less capacity than the existing (current) terminal. 

The old terminal, launched in 1979 was designed to accommodate 1.5 million passengers annually.

LP seeks clarification from PEPC regarding copies of judgment issued to APC

With the outcome of the Presidential Election Petition Court, the dust rising from the ruling of the Tribunal has refused to settle. The controversy over why the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) bore the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team’s header continued yesterday, shining a spotlight on the judiciary. 

Despite the calls for all aggrieved parties to embrace the tribunal’s ruling, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar on Sunday, raised an inquest into the development. The Labour Party (LP) also joined the fray on Sunday as it tasked the PEPC and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to tell Nigerians what really transpired over the controversy and the embarrassing appearance of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT) on the CTC of the judgment.

Babatunde Ogala, coordinator of the TPLP – the umbrella organization of the team of attorneys who defended President Bola Tinubu’s election victory before the PEPC – dismissed the widespread concerns about the controversial copy of the judgment, calling it an “innocuous watermark.” Atiku’s team insisted that the inscription was not a watermark, but rather a header indicating the document’s provenance.

LP, however, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiorah Ifoh, on Sunday, said: “Following the revelation that the CTC of the recent judgment by the PEPC bore the imprint ‘Tinubu Presidential Legal Team’ (TPLT) as its header, Nigerians are curious about this occurrence, which has generated storm and controversy.

“The Labour Party was very disturbed by the delay in releasing the judgment expeditiously, only to be confronted with this befuddlement. The public is also struggling to comprehend what is occurring. 

“The burden of explaining and quelling the escalating controversy falls on the PEPC and the TPLT, the proprietors of the imprints. The header is obviously not a watermark. We observe that only a subset of petitioners received the identical version.  

“In a highly contentious case with grave national implications, it is essential to confirm that the PEPC conferred no advantage, rights, or privileges on any party. 

 “This development must be clarified as soon as possible to avoid speculation and the belief that something nefarious occurred. This cannot be another technical error.”, Ifoh added.

Nigeria will need ₦21trn to bridge housing deficit- VP Shettima

Despite the efforts of the three echelons of government, the Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, has stated that ₦21trn is required to effectively address the housing deficit.

At the commencement ceremony for the construction of a 500-unit housing estate by the state government in Sokoto on sunday, the vice president Shettima, who praised Governor Ahmed Aliyu for his efforts to address the housing requirements of his people, noted that Nigeria’s housing shortage remained a significant obstacle.

“Nigeria has a housing deficit of 28 million units and will require 21 trillion to achieve its housing requirements. The Governor’s action is highly commendable and worthy of imitation by other state governments.

” The governor has started off well by completing the roads and flyovers he inherited,” Shettima  added.

The governor previously explained that the housing estate would be for civil servants and would be transferred to them as owner-occupants when completed.

Aliyu stated, “This is a project begun by the previous governor of the state, Aliyu Wamakko, but abandoned by the previous administration.”

“However, he continued, we are determined to finish it for the good of our employees and the general public.”

Aliyu revealed that the project located at Wamakko Local Government Area of the State will cost the State government ₦‎7.3 billion to complete. Sen Aliyu Wamakko and Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, were in attendance at the event commemorating the administration’s first 100 days in office.

Others included the Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, Alhaji Bello Goronyo, and two former Sokoto deputy governors, Mukhtari Shagari and Chiso Abdullah-Dattijo.