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

Electoral Act 2022 make rigging almost impossible — Abaribe

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South, in an interview said, “There are two things that were done in that Electoral Act. First is the direct transmission of results in each polling unit. Even if you have problems in a polling unit, the cumulative of all the polling booths will give you a nearly accurate figure. And, there is a provision in the Act that if you, by any means, force a Returning Officer to announce a result that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not have, that set of results will not be processed.

“The other thing about the Electoral Act, which is good, is the very famous one, which everyone saw when the Senate rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s amendment, which is section 84 (12). What that section does is that it codified what was already supposed to be the norm of our society. Usually, if you want to run for election, the norm used to be that you would resign. You won’t sit in an office and at the same time utilise your office to run and manipulate state resources in running for election.”

On that, a Federal High sitting in Umuahia has nullified Section 84 (12) of the Act and ordered the Attorney General of the Federation to delete it. Justice Evelyn Anyadike declared that the said section of the amended Electoral Act was inconsistent with Sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f) and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution and was consequently unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect.

35-year-old Daniel joins presidential race

Thirty-five-year-old security expert, Chuwang Daniel, from Cross River, has declared to run for President on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The aspirant described himself as “The New Hope for Nigeria,” saying the time has come to fix the country.

“No sincere citizen, including those in power, would say this nation is a working environment and go sleep with two eyes closed.

“I see myself with lots of great minds teaming up to ‘Make Nigeria Work’ as ‘The New Hope,’ who won’t fail or get elected and play the blame game instead of wiping off insecurity, fixing the economy, giving Nigeria and Nigerians a global advantage. I plead with you all to support this vision.”

‘China stops loans to Nigeria, country explores other options’

The Federal Government has said it had made adequate arrangements to source funds from other partners as China appears to have halted further loans to the country, The Nation reports.

The newspaper reported that the Chinese government had stopped releasing funds for some projects it had earlier agreed to co-finance with the Federal Government. A source told The Nation that the Chinese government was worried about the political and security situation in Nigeria.

Responding to China withdrawing its funding to Nigeria, the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, said, “We are diversifying our sources of funding. So, we are not dependent on just one source, whether in the international/external or domestic borrowings.”

Speaking on the claim of China withholding its loans to Nigeria, Oniha explained that “officially, we don’t have a communication from China saying: ‘We’re not lending again’. So, we’re still in discussion with them as we speak on a continuous basis”.

SERAP urges Buhari to probe of trillions spent on Nigeria’s power sector

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to “direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to promptly and thoroughly investigate how over 11 trillion naira meant to provide regular electricity supply has been allegedly squandered by governments since 1999.”

SERAP said, “Anyone suspected to be responsible should face prosecution as appropriate, if there is sufficient admissible evidence, and any missing public funds should be traced and fully recovered.”

Nigeria produces 150m litres of engine oil yearly, consumes 250m litres, Sylva laments

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has said Nigeria consumes about 250 million litres of engine oil yearly and this consumption grows by more than five per cent every year due to the addition of new vehicles and machinery.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Kesiye Wabote, stated this on behalf of the agency and the minister of state for petroleum resources.

He, however, regretted that “the in-country blending capacity has remained constant at 150 million litres, showing a shortage of about 100 million litres. This shortfall is met by the importation of finished lube oil products with the attendant loss of revenue and job opportunities.”