• Nigeria defeats South Korea in the U-20 Women’s World Cup
• SERAP asks INEC to Allow seven million Nigerians to complete Voter Registration
• Nigeria’s oil revenues are declining, FG blames theft.
• Nasarawa guarantees the payment of pensions and gratuities.
• APC Has No Senatorial Candidate In Yobe North, Akwa Ibom North West – INEC

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

Nigeria defeats South Korea in the U-20 Women’s World Cup

 Nigeria defeated South Korea 1-0 on Sunday in the Group C soccer match at the Costa Rica 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The Falconets won their second game in the competition thanks to a late goal by Esther Onyenezide.

Due to severe rain, the game, originally scheduled for 9 p.m., was moved to 10.15 p.m.

According to Complete Sports, Bashirat Amoo attempted a long-range effort from a free kick for the Falconets in the third minute, but South Korea goalkeeper Kim Kyeong-Hee calmly stopped the shot.

The Koreans launched another effort in the 22nd minute, and Lee Soo-In blasted a long shot that struck the woodwork.

Amoo attempted a long-range shot with four minutes remaining in the first half, but it missed its intended goal.

Onyenezide attempted a long cross into the box five minutes into the second half, but South Korea’s goalkeeper leaped high to save the ball.

With a fantastic long-range shot that soared past the Korean goalkeeper and into the net in the 82nd minute, Onyenezide finally scored.

On Wednesday, the Falconets’ final group game will be against Canada.

SERAP asks INEC to allow seven million Nigerians to complete Voter Registration

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) permit seven million Nigerians to finish their voter registration prior to the 2023 general elections.

Kolawole Oluwadare, the Deputy Director of SERAP, made the demand in a statement on Sunday, warning that the electoral body would face legal repercussions if it failed.

The rights organization claims that INEC recently revealed that only 3,444,378 of the 10,487,972 Nigerians who pre-registered online actually finished the procedure at a physical site.

SERAP is of the opinion that in order to exercise one’s right to vote, one must also be provided the time and chance to finish the registration process.

The statement stated, “The right to vote is not only the ability to cast a ballot, but also the right to be afforded the time and opportunity to complete the registration process, so that the right may be meaningfully and successfully exercised.

“Trust in the voting process cannot be maintained by barring eligible Nigerians from entering and refusing them the time and chance to finish their registration.”

The right to vote of individuals impacted, their ability to participate in the 2023 elections, and their treatment differently and unfairly would all be affected by denying a significant number of eligible voters the time and chance to complete the registration for their PVCs.

Nigeria’s oil revenues are declining, FG blames theft.

Between January and July 2022, Nigeria’s oil production fell by 28 million barrels, endangering the Federal Government’s goal of N9.37 trillion in oil and gas revenue for the year.

Dr. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, recently presented the 2023–2035 Medium Term Expenditure Framework & Fiscal Strategy Paper, in which the Federal Government laid the blame for oil production shutdowns on pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, and high gasoline subsidy costs.

The majority of industry experts who have spoken on the issue blame oil theft, which seems to defy remedies.

Nigeria’s crude oil production fell to as low as 1.084 million barrels per day in July 2022 after reaching a high of 1.399 million barrels per day in January 2022.

The country lost around 315,000 barrels of crude oil per day, or 28.4 million barrels of oil over the course of the six-month period, as the rate fell from 1.399 million barrels per day in January to 1.084 million barrels per day in July.

According to information obtained on Sunday from various monthly oil production reports published by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Nigeria actually increased its output from 1.197 million barrels per day (mbpd) in December 2021 to 1.399 million bpd in January 2022.

However, this could not last, as the nation’s oil production started to decline in February and fell to 1.258 million barrels per day before further plunging in March to 1.238 million barrels per day.

Nasarawa guarantees the payment of pensions and gratuities.

The Nasarawa State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to paying pension allowances and gratuities to retirees in order to raise their level of life and that of their families.

Alhaji Abdullahi Adoke, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule on Pensions, made this statement while addressing the crowd in Lafia.

He explained that the Governor Abdullahi Sule-led administration was setting aside N50 million each month to pay the state’s pensioners’ backlogs.

He claims that N150 million is paid out on a first-come, first-served basis every quarter and that the government always ensures fast monthly pension allowance payments to its retirees.

He claimed that since Governor Sule was current with the payment of pensions to state retirees, he was up-and-doing in assuring greater wellness for pensioners in the state.

“Governor Abdullahi Sule’s administration is committed to the welfare of pensioners in the state; that is why the state government is up-to-date in the payment of pensions.”

“Governor Sule is also doing his best in the payment of gratuities in the state,” he said.

In order to address the issues affecting the industry, Adoke also revealed that the state government would soon digitalize the pension administration in the state.

In order to raise their level of life and that of their families and to help Sule’s administration endure after 2023, the SSA advised pensioners to continue working in productive endeavors.

APC Has No Senatorial Candidate In Yobe North, Akwa Ibom North West – INEC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) lacks a candidate for the Yobe North and Akwa Ibom North West senatorial districts, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

After losing the APC presidential primaries, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, who represents Yobe North, is vying for the party’s ticket. On the other hand, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio, is vying for the party’s nomination to represent Akwa Ibom North West in the Senate. Akpabio ran for the APC presidency as well.

Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner for INEC, however, stated that the electoral authority does not recognize any APC candidates for any senatorial zone.

In these two constituencies, two names were forwarded, and the commission made a determination that the names were not those of persons who emerged from validly conducted party primaries, so we did not publish their names. That is where we are,” Okoye said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

“Their (Lawan and Akpabio) names were uploaded by the APC to our candidates’ nomination portal but the Commission made a determination that they were not the candidates that emerged from valid party primaries,” he added.

“The commission did not publish their names and their particulars in their constituencies. So, the implication is that, as of today, the APC does not have candidates in those two constituencies. “

Last week, INEC denied doctoring and backdating documents to accommodate the nominations of Lawan and Akpabio as senatorial candidates for the 2023 general elections.

“The Commission did not publish the forms of the two personalities in question,” INEC said.

“The decision of the Commission triggered legal action which is still ongoing. It, therefore, defies logic and common sense to go around and submit doctored documents purportedly recognizing the duo as candidates when the matter is clearly sub-judice.”