These are the stories you should be monitoring today:
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto has on Wednesday, disclosed that he is under pressure to join the Presidential race.
Tambuwal, who told this to associations of students, youths and resident communities on a visit to his office, said he has “been receiving advice and encouragement from leaders, people across the country and even from abroad to contest for presidency and the pressure has been mounting.”
“It Is not my making but the quantum of pressure from everywhere is because of leadership gap in the country,” the former speaker of the green chamber added, as he promised to make his position public on the matter “in days to come.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday defended it’s budget before the Senate’s and House of Representatives’ committees on INEC.
According to documents submitted to the lawmakers by the Chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu at separate sessions, operational cost amounts to N134.4bn; while technology, administrative cost and miscellaneous will gulp N27.5bn, N22.6bn, and N4.6bn respectively, from the total estimate of N189.2 billion.
Yakubu, explained that its preparation for about 91 political parties on the ballot and 82 million registered voters is responsible for the increase in the budget, compared to the 2015 polls that cost N120 billion, adding that the estimates includes the cost of conducting elections into the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the expiration of the tenure of the elected officials coincides with the general elections.
Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met behind closed doors with the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung and the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick at the Presidential Villa.
The meeting which held immediately after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, is believed to be at the instance of the threat by the Federation of International Football (FIFA) to ban the country from international competitions following the leadership crisis rocking the NFF and alleged government interference.
Nuhu Goroh Shadalafiya, representing Kagarko Constituency, has been sworn in as the new Deputy Speaker of the Kaduna House of Assembly, following the declaration of the seat of the former Deputy Speaker, John Audu-Kwaturu vacant.
Speaker of the House, Aminu Shagali declared the seat of the former Deputy speaker, and that of Junaidu Yakubu, representing Kudan constitutency, vacant after they defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Shagali said their reasons for quitting the APC were not tenable as there was no crisis in the party at the state or national level.
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Weekly Source Newspaper, Jones Abiri, has been released after two years in detention by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The journalist was released on Wednesday evening, following a fulfillment of his bail conditions, granted by an Abuja court, his lawyer, Samuel Ogala, told PREMIUM TIMES, with his trial expected to continue at the Abuja magistrate court in Zone 2, Wuse on Thursday.
And stories from around the world:
Donald Trump has revoked the security clearance of ex-CIA chief John Brennan, denying the US president’s critic any access to sensitive information.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced the decision by reading a statement from Mr Trump. (BBC)
China will send a senior negotiator to the United States in late August to resume trade talks, its commerce ministry said Thursday, the first public meeting on the dispute in weeks as the trade conflict intensifies. (AFP)
The Turkish lira rallied from record lows on Wednesday after Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said Qatar was standing by its “brothers in Turkey” as he announced a $15bn investment into the country’s financial markets and banks. (Al Jazeera)
China rebuffed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for Beijing to rethink its conduct in the South China Sea on Thursday, saying China had the right to react to foreign ships or aircraft that get close to its islands. (Reuters)
A Malaysian court has ruled that the evidence against two women accused of murdering the half-brother of North Korea’s leader is strong enough for the case to go to trial. (BBC)
