Ex-Rep Farouk Lawan jailed for 19 years, ‘Zamfara home to highest number of poor Nigerians’ | 5 Things That Should Matter Today

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

Zamfara home to highest number of poor Nigerians – NSR

Zamfara State has the highest number of the poor and vulnerable people in Nigeria, with a record of 3,836,484 people from 825,337 households, according to data from the National Social Registry.

Joe Abuku, Communications Manager of the National Social Safety-Net Coordinating Office, made the data available through email in response to enquiries made by Punch.

While Zamfara has the highest number of documented poor and vulnerable people, Ekitihas the least number of 94,923 from 32,949 households, according to the data.


Lai Mohammed, Fashola, Pantami part of FG committee to dialogue with Twitter

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the composition of the Federal Government’s Team to engage with Twitter over the recent suspension of the operations of the microblogging platform in Nigeria.

The approval was announced in a statement in Abuja, on Tuesday, by Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, who will chair the team.

“The Federal Government’s team also comprises the Attorney General of the Federation and Honourable Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo; as well as other relevant government agencies,” part of the statement read. – Nigerian Tribune reports


Court sentences Farouk Lawan to 19 years imprisonment

Justice Angela Otaluka of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Tuesday, June 22, found a former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Farouk Lawan, guilty of demanding a bribe of $3million and receiving $500,000.

The Judge found the former Chairman of the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy Regime in 2012, guilty in the three-count charge brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and sentenced him to 19 years in prison.

The former lawmaker was alleged to have demanded the sum of $3million for himself from the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, Femi Otedola.

He was also alleged to have collected $620,000 out of the amount with a view to removing Otedola’s companies’ names from the list of firms indicted by the ad hoc committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime in 2012. – Nigerian Tribune reports


FG deploys Buratai to Benin Republic

The Federal Government has presented letters of credence to Tukur Buratai and Abayomi Olonisakin, as Non-Career Ambassadors to the Republic of Benin and Cameroon, respectively.

Buratai and Olonisakin were Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff respectively from 2016 to 2021.

The letters were handed over to the two ambassadors by Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Abuja, on Tuesday. – The Cable reports


ECOWAS court stops FG from prosecuting Nigerians using Twitter

The ECOWAS Court of Justice sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, June 22, restrained the Federal Government and its agents from prosecuting or doing anything whatsoever to harass, intimidate or arrest people for using Twitter.

The court, in the ruling on an interlocutory application, restrained the Buhari-led government from, “unlawfully imposing sanctions or doing anything whatsoever to harass, intimidate, arrest or prosecute Twitter and/or any other social media service provider(s), media houses, radio and television broadcast stations, the plaintiffs and other Nigerians who are Twitter users, pending the hearing and determination of this suit.

The ruling of the court followed the suit filed against the government by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians arguing that “the unlawful suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, criminalisation of Nigerians and other people using Twitter have escalated repression of human rights and unlawfully restricted the rights of Nigerians and other people to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom in the country.”Nigerian Tribune reports

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