• SERAP sues FG for blocking 72 million telecoms subscribers
• Nigerian lawmaker, Nse Ekpenyong, is dead
• Presidency blames Kukah, opposition for delayed delivery of Super Tucano jets
• Lagos traders protest ₦600m loss to Ponzi scheme
• African China urges entertainers not to campaign for politicians

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

SERAP sues FG for blocking 72 million telecoms subscribers

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued President Muhammadu Buhari and two others at the Federal High Court, Lagos, over the failure to unblock phone lines of over 72 million telecommunications subscribers barred from making calls on account of National Identification Number and Subscriber Identity Module (NIN-SIM) linkage.

Joined in the suit, as respondents, are Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.

In the suit number, FHC/L/CS/711/2022, filed at the weekend by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, SERAP is seeking an order setting aside the presidential directive without due process of law, and for being inconsistent with the requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality.

Nigerian lawmaker, Nse Ekpenyong, is dead

Nse Ekpenyong, 58, who was representing Oron Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives died on Saturday, Premium Times reports

He is a former member of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly and a former deputy chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom.

Presidency blames Kukah, opposition for delayed delivery of Super Tucano jets

The statement by the Senior Special Assistant to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, is titled “Predicting Nigeria’s collapse is a perennial pursuit of US think tanks and policy experts.”   

Shehu argued that the war against terrorism would have recorded a huge success if the US authorities were not negatively influenced then by Kukah and the opposition.

Such views were compounded by the constant lobbying of US Congress by the opponents of the Nigerian government who had lost the previous election, and many of their southern religious supporters – including Bishop Mathew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Diocese of Sokoto…

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 24, 2022

Lagos traders protest ₦600m loss to Ponzi scheme

A businesswoman, Chinyere Emeka-Atu, has been accused of defrauding traders and market women of over ₦600 million in Lagos.

According to Punch newspaper, the woman used her company, Family Food Support Association, to gather unsuspecting members of the public, including petty traders, to part away with ₦9,000 every month to get a higher return on their investments.

The victims were said to have been promised a return of ₦200,000 cash and ₦90,000 worth of foodstuffs after nine months of investments in the association’s scheme.

However, Emeka-Atu started defaulting in the payment of the promised money and donation of food items to those who invested in the scheme.

She was arraigned before a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court on April 12, 2022. The magistrate denied the plea by Emeka-Atu’s counsel for bail and adjourned the hearing till April 28, 2022.

African China urges entertainers not to campaign for politicians

Popular singer, Chinagorom Onuoha, known as African China, has asked Nigerian entertainers to stop campaigning for politicians.

In an interview with Punch newspaper, he says, “Entertainers should not campaign for politicians. If they do that, they are helping the politicians to kill their fans who love them.”