These are the stories you should be monitoring today:
A new faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged in Abuja on Wednesday .
The new faction which is named Reformed-APC (R-APC) comprises aggrieved members of the APC, mostly from the National Assembly.
At a press conference at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, the group said the new faction was formed due to the failure of the APC, which it noted to be “severely underperforming and unable to meet its potentials for good governance.”
It announced Alhaji Buba Galadima as its National Chairman, Dr. Fatai Atanda (Oyo State) as National Secretary, Kazeem Afegbua (Edo State) as National Publicity Secretary and a host of other national and state executives.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has taken a swipe at the Federal Government for what it described as seeming inability to anticipate, manage and control the wanton killings and destruction of properties in the country.
ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, at a news briefing on Wednesday in Abuja, also lambasted politicians for taking advantage of the raging crisis between farmers and herdsmen to feather their political nests, noting that “government’s handling of the issue has fallen far short of protecting certain constitutional provisions on fundamental human rights.”
It added that President Muhammadu Buhari and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) government must take responsibility for the failure to anticipate and manage the massacres in parts of the federation and called on government to immediately set up a national panel made up of Nigerians with track records in rule of law to investigate the carnage.
The Senate has on Wednesday passed a resolution, urging the Federal Government to provide low interest loans to herders for the establishment of ranches.
According to the lawmakers, the resolution which followed the consideration of the report of an ad-hoc committee chaired by Senate leader, Ahmad Lawan on the review of the country’s security infrastructure, is a way to address the clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the country.
They also made a strong case for a review of the nature of the Federal system, which should be pursued with responsibility and strong political will.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N206 billion to facilitate the construction of associated infrastructures that would link the Second Niger Bridge in the southeastern part of Nigeria.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who spoke with State House Correspondents after the FEC meeting, said the approval on Wednesday was in addition to the N14 billion already expended by the Federal Government towards the construction of the bridge.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said he was not aware of the court’s order compelling the National Assembly to begin impeachment process against President Muhammmadu Buhari.
The minister disclosed this on Wednesday while fielding questions from State House reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Buhari.
“I am just hearing from you. I will have to read it myself,” the minister said.
And stories from around the world:
Iran could reduce its co-operation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, President Hassan Rouhani told the body’s head on Wednesday, after he warned U.S. President Donald Trump of “consequences” of fresh sanctions against Iranian oil sales. (Reuters)
Rescuers in Thailand are racing against the weather to free 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.
This fear is amidst the fact that heavy rains are expected to hit in a matter of days and could see water levels rise, threatening the area where the group has taken refuge.
“We are racing against time before we found them,” Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said at a press conference on Thursday morning. “Now we are racing against water.” (BBC)
Steep American tariffs on Chinese goods worth tens of billions of dollars are due to take effect when the clock strikes twelve on Thursday night, as US President Donald Trump fires the first salvo in a trade war between the world’s top two economies.
The US plans to levy a 25-percent tariff on more than 800 Chinese product categories worth around $34 billion and has warned of more to come if a trade war escalates. (AFP)
Syrian armed opposition said on Wednesday that talks with Russia aimed at a comprehensive ceasefire in Deraa and Quneitra in southern Syria had failed.
The Syrian Negotiations Commission (SNC) said Russia refused that Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed fighters withdraw from captured areas in order to let displaced people pass through. (Aljazeera)
The President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou has said American and other foreign troops working in his country should limit themselves to providing training, equipment and intelligence, not fighting jihadists, in the wake of the botched raid in which five Nigerien and four US soldiers died in 2017.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, Mahamadou Issoufou also promised to quit as president when his second term comes to an end in 2021, committing not to abolish term limits and hang on to power.
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