These are the stories that drove the conversation today:

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday described defectors from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as bad eggs, which “God will continue to fish out.”

Buhari who was speaking at the commencement of a campaign rally for the August 11 Bauchi South Senatorial District bye-elections and the formal presentation of the APC Candidate, Gumau Lawal Yahaya, urged the crowd of suporters not to be perturbed by the recent defections in the party, saying “God will continue to fish out the bad eggs among us,” as the 2019 general elections approach.

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The Presidency says the Federal Government has spent N49bn on the feeding of primary school pupils under the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, a component of the government’s Social Investment Programme, in the last two years.

The Special Adviser to the President on NSIP, Mrs. Mariam Uwais, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja on Thursday, said 8, 596,340 pupils were currently being fed in 46,247 public primary schools in 24 states.

She added that through the programme, 90,670 Nigerians had been engaged and empowered as cooks while over 100,000 local farmers had also been linked with the programme to supply locally sourced farm produce.

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The People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) has accused the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting to use the 10-day vacation of President Muhammadu Buhari as a strategy to attack the National Assembly and impeach the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Spokesman of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday who disclosed this in a statement said “The PDP has been reliably informed about how these APC senators, especially members of the Buhari Parliamentary Support Group (BPSG), have been provided with huge sums of money, illegally lifted from repatriated funds, to carry out this nefarious act under the guise of urgent need to approve funds for the 2019 general elections.

President @MBuhari’s two-week vacation in London was designed as an alibi to exonerate him from planned political illegalities, forceful invasion and mayhem about to be visited on the polity and particularly, the National Assembly. @nassnigeria pic.twitter.com/zkZROChki4

— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) August 2, 2018

“Despite their planned alibi, the PDP states that President Buhari must be held responsible for any abuse of power, disregard for rule of law and assault on democratic institutions, even in his absence from the country,” he further added.

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Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has given the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), 7 days to provide information on specific details and documents on the Exemption Certificate granted to the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun.

In the Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Brigadier-General Sule Kazaure, NYSC Director-General, dated 2 August 2018 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale, the organization said it “needs the information to determine if the crime of forgery has been committed, and if so, to consider possible action in the circumstances, including but not limited to asking the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami SAN to pursue prosecution or in the absence of that, for us to consider the option of a private prosecution.”

“If the information is not provided to us within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter, the Registered Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions under the Freedom of Information Act to compel you to comply with our request,” it added.

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The Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday arraigned Jones Abiri at a magistrate court in Abuja.

The magistrate, Chukwuemeka Nweke granted the journalist bail in the sum of N2 million, fixed August 8 to hear the application and also fixed August 16 for the commencement of Abiri’s trial.

Abiri who has been in DSS custody since his arrest in July 2016 is accused of being a militant and a leader of the Joint Revolutionary Council of the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, which has separatist inclinations and known ties with criminal gangs.