• Tinubu Expresses Fear Over Bloated Civil Service Payroll
• Obasanjo Reveals Truth About Yar’Adua’s Illness
• Niger reopens its airspace after a month of border lockdown
• Lagos State welcomes its Blue Line Rail since construction planning began 20 years ago
• ‘Tinubu is Confident about the Tribunal judgement,’ says Special Adviser Ajuri Ngelale

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

Tinubu Expresses Fear Over Bloated Civil Service Payroll 

The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has expressed his feelings towards the bloated civil service payroll as he stated his desire to digitalise the public service administration.

In a statement published by Ajuri Ngelale, the special adviser to His Excellency, President Tinubu addressed the burgeoning demand for effective technology upgrades for public institutions to help with the storage of data as he spoke with Andres Arroyo, the vice president of Oracle, a computer technology firm.

According to the statement, the President’s passion for new technology in public institutions was encouraged by the partnership between the Nigerian government and Oracle. The President was thrilled to collaborate, as it would enhance the country’s civil service and data management sector.

The President credited the partnership with Oracle, reminiscing about how the computer technology company turned around the automation of the Lagos payroll system when he, Tinubu, was Governor of Lagos State.

“I have tested Oracle, and it has worked for our success in Lagos State; what we did in effective partnership with you has been implemented across all States of the Federation,” Tinubu said.

The President mentioned Nigeria’s bloated civil service payroll at the national and sub-national levels, stating that the wage bill expends much of Nigeria’s revenue.

“Each time they give me the payroll, I get so frightened. Where will I get the capital to develop the desperately needed infrastructure if the payroll of 1% – 2% of the population consumes all the revenue?” President Tinubu queried.

Obasanjo Reveals Truth About Yar’Adua’s Illness

The former President and icon of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, recounted his details about the late President Musa Yar’Adua’s health, telling the truth about not knowing of Yar’Adua’s fatal illness before giving up the seat of power to him in 2007.

In an interview with a Nigerian news media, Obasanjo said he trusted the medical advice of an expert, which was a green light to leave Yar’Adua with Nigeria to rule even after his kidney transplant. Obasanjo’s medical team had green-flagged Yar’Adua, deeming him fit to rule.

Olusegun Obasanjo, the ex-general who ruled Nigeria as a military head of state between 1976 and 1979, then later as a civilian president from 1999-2007, had been accused by Nigerians of selecting Yar’Adua to be President, knowing he had a terminal illness and would not last long in power.

“I set up a committee led by Olusegun Agagu, of blessed memory, to search for a successor. They considered many names and performed an extensive investigation on all of them. They made their recommendations, and Umaru was at the top of the list,” Obasanjo said in an interview, denying allegations of selecting a weaker presidential candidate.

“Their biggest argument was about his integrity and whether or not he would steal. The issues regarding his health were raised, but I submitted his medical reports to an expert for analysis. Umaru’s name was redacted so that the medical expert would not know who it was and why I was requesting his opinion on the report,”

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo stated that he did not know Umaru Musa Yar’Adua would die as the medical expert revealed that the patient had recently undergone a kidney transplant. If that was the case, the person should be fine. He debunked the rumours that claimed he was privy to Yar’Adua’s fatal health complications before leaving him the presidential seat.

Niger reopens its airspace after a month of border lockdown.

A month after the rulership of Niger was hijacked by the military junta, and they shut down the borders, Niger has finally reopened its borders to commercial flights.

On September 4, Niger Republic opened its borders to commercial flights despite the tension between the country and ECOWAS. The airspace was initially closed to deter any military intervention from ECOWAS, and shortly after a month, the military junta and its interim President reopened the airspace.

Although the military junta has yet to explain its reasons for opening its borders, people wonder if this meant countries could take flights passing over Niger, as the closure of its airspace meant flights had to take longer routes when flying through the African continent.

After ousting President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) conditioned the military junta to release power back into his hands or face the consequences. The military officers, however, did not listen to the warning and shut Niger’s borders.

Neighbouring countries like Mali and Burkina Faso had also pledged to fight alongside Niger should ECOWAS carry on with its threat.

Lagos State welcomes its Blue Line Rail since construction planning began 20 years ago.

On September 4, the ever-expanding economic centre, Lagos State, welcomed its first Blue Line Rail as its Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, took a trip with paying passengers on the Blue Line Rail.

The Blue Line Rail is said to travel between Marina and Mile 2, the trip which the Governor, his deputy and other passengers boarded on Monday. The Governor was excited about the growth of his state, and he was enthusiastic about also completing the Red Line before the end of 2023.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced that the flyover bridges currently in construction for the Red Line would be commissioned and opened one after the other starting next month.

“The red line will be completed before the end of the year, as the project is about 95% complete,” he said.

The Blue Line Rail passenger operations are scheduled for September 5, opening at 6:30-10 a.m., while afternoon rides would be from 4-9:30 p.m. The Blue Line Rail would be tested with 12 trips for two weeks before advancing to 76 daily trips.

The Blue Line Rail has five strategically selected stations, which are Alaba, Marina, Mile 2, National Theatre, and Orile-Iganmu.

‘Tinubu is Confident about the Tribunal judgement,’ says Special Adviser Ajuri Ngelale

The special adviser to the President of Nigeria on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, has revealed that the President is not worried about the result of the presidential tribunal.

According to Ngelale, the President believed that the mandate given unto him by Nigerians would stand as he also “believed in the sanctity and integrity of the Nigerian judicial system.”

Ngelale stated that the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, had faith in the Nigerian judicial system and that the tribunal’s judgement, no matter the outcome, would be respected along with the institutions.

“The President is not worried simply because he won the election. We believe that we have submitted the best case; we have the evidence with us, and we have the most talented legal team in Nigeria, which is working with factual information. We won across all the geopolitical spreads with the right numbers,” Ngelale said.

YNaija