• Tinubu mentally alert, fit to rule – APC Presidential Campaign Council
• Gunmen bomb Nigerian police facility, set inmates free
• National Assembly Passes N21.82 Trillion Budget for 2023
• EFCC invites Nigerians to bid for forfeited landed properties nationwide
• Again, Soludo offers amnesty to gunmen terrorising Anambra

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

Tinubu mentally alert, fit to rule – APC Presidential Campaign Council

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is healthy and intellectually fit to rule Nigeria.

The declaration was made on Wednesday in Osogbo by Mr. Adeboye Adebayo, a member of the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council.

He spoke at a media engagement held at the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Office in Osogbo, on: “Tinubu’s manifesto: Speaking directly to peoples’ needs and national challenges.’’

“That a person travelled abroad to have surgery on his knee does not make him unfit to lead Nigeria. He is here because he’s mentally alert and his intellect is sound.

“Don’t forget that up till today, he has attended so many town hall meetings and has attended so many rallies,’’ he said.

Adebayo, also the National Director, Media and Publicity, Asiwaju Project Beyond, said Tinubu’s state of health could not in any way affect the discharge of his responsibilities as president.

He said Tinubu’s presidential ambition was driven by his patriotic nature and the zeal he has for a greater Nigeria.

He urged the people of Osun to start preaching the gospel of Tinubu all over the state as a patriotic Nigerian who used his intellect and finances to enthrone democracy in Nigeria.

“One of the major traits of a good leader is to identify talents. Nigeria needs competent hands like Tinubu who is a talent hunter.

“Tinubu deserves to be the president so that Nigeria can have good governance. He has been campaigning for the office of president when he began to meet stakeholders since January, Adebayo said. (NAN)

Gunmen bomb Nigerian police facility, set inmates free

The Ihiala Police Divisional Headquarters in the Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State in southeast Nigeria was bombed by gunmen.

Residents claimed that the attack occurred on Wednesday at around three in the morning.

A building inside the station was reportedly destroyed by improvised explosive devices that the gunmen threw into the area.

Uju Okafor, a local, claimed that the explosion and occasional firing by the gunmen prevented them from sleeping during the attack.

“I was very scared when I started hearing of the heavy shootings and bomb explosions,” she said.

According to Mr. Okafor, they didn’t realize the incident had taken place at the police complex until later in the morning.

Another local, Chinonso Okoye, claimed that during the attack, the gunmen released some prisoners.

“It was very early this morning that the gunmen started shooting and throwing bombs. We heard they released some people in the police cell,” he said.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the Anambra State police spokesperson, confirmed the attack in a statement on Wednesday.

According to Mr. Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, during the attack, some police officers engaged the attackers in a shootout and later found one Ak-47 weapon.

He said there were no casualties in the incident and that the operatives’ “superior firing” power allowed the shooters to “leave the area.”

“Unfortunately, the explosives the gunmen threw inside the police station building had already ignited a fire and affected the building,” he said.

However, the police spokesman claimed that the fire had been extinguished.

In response to a reporter’s inquiry about whether the attackers released any prisoners, Mr. Ikenga responded, “Yes, and we are already on their trail.”

He did not specifically state how many prisoners the shooters had freed.

National Assembly Passes N21.82 Trillion Budget for 2023

The 2023 Appropriations Bill, which covers all fiscal year expenses to the tune of N21, 827,188,747, 391 was passed by the National Assembly yesterday.

The approved budget was shifted from N20.1 trillion to N21.8 trillion, an increase of N1.31 trillion.

Recall that on October 7 of this year, President Muhammadu Buhari submitted and tabled a N20.51 trillion appropriation bill for the Senate and the House of Representatives to review.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Senator Jibrin Barau of the APC, Kano North, and the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Hon. Aliyu Betara, considered and approved the report before passing the appropriations bill.

Following the Senate and House of Representatives entering the Committee of Supply, the Appropriations Bill was read a third time and passed. This occurred after the report’s clause-by-clause analysis.

N967.48 billion of the entire amount was designated for Statutory Transfers,

For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, N6.55 trillion was allocated for debt servicing, N8.32 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenses, and N5.97 trillion for capital expenditures, even though the deficit is N10, 782, 078, 435, 531, which would be paid for by borrowing.

The benchmark price of crude oil is set at $75 USD per barrel in the recently passed budget. Crude oil production is set at 1.69 mbpd; the exchange rate is N435/US$; the GDP growth rate is 3.75 percent; and the inflation rate is 17.1 percent.

The Executive’s proposed benchmark for oil prices was US $70; crude oil production was set at 1.69 million barrels per day; the exchange rate was fixed at N435 to the US dollar; the GDP growth rate was set at 3.75 percent; and the inflation rate was 17.1 percent.

The National Judicial Council receives funds from the statutory transfers in the recently passed budget.

N165bn; Niger-Delta Development Commission receives N119.93bn; Universal Basic Education receives N103.28bn; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) receives N173.63bn; National Human Rights Commission receives N165bn

4.5 billion Naira, 59.03 billion Naira for the North East Development Commission, 51.64 billion Naira for the Basic Health Care Fund, and 51.64 billion Naira for the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).

The National Assembly Severance/Inauguration of the departing and incoming 9th and 10th Assembly (Legislators and Legislative Aides) is also allotted under the Statutory Transfer.

EFCC invites Nigerians to bid for forfeited landed properties nationwide

Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the EFCC, had said on December 16 that the commission would soon begin the sales of forfeited estate properties across the country after it had finished the sales of forfeited cars across the nation.

The EFCC had finished selling off all of the country’s seized vehicles at auction. It was noticed how the process documented disorderliness at one of the auctioning events in Abuja.

According to the EFCC, 61 units of opulent apartments make up some of the properties that will be put up for auction, while land tracts all around the nation are also for sale.

The properties are divided into 24 units of a lavish apartment building on Banana Island in Lagos, 21 units of a lavish apartment building on a terrace in Yaba, Lagos, and 16 units of a terraced duplex with four bedrooms in the Heritage Court Estate in Port Harcourt.

Plots of land and apartments in the states of Anambra, Ebonyi, and Gombe; apartments and plots of land in Kaduna, Delta, and Edo; a hotel, plaza, and flats in Kwara State; and apartments and plots of land in the states of Cross River, Osun, and Oyo are among the others.

The auction is accessible to the general public, with the exception of people and business entities “who have been / or are being prosecuted by the EFCC; Directors of such firms and employees of the EFCC,” according to the agency.

The anti-graft organization advised potential participants to obtain the bid forms from the EFCC website.

Again, Soludo offers amnesty to gunmen terrorising Anambra

Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo has once more promised gunmen who are terrorizing the state’s citizens amnesty.

On Wednesday, Mr. Soludo made this announcement during a news conference in Awka, Anambra State.

The briefing is captured on video and posted to YouTube.

Similar to other states in the South-east, Anambra has recently seen an uptick in armed attacks.

Earlier this year, assailants in the state killed and beheaded a politician. Gunmen who are believed to be associated with the Biafra agitation in the South-east kidnapped and later murdered two former MPs.

Recently, hoodlums in the state have targeted the offices of certain local government bodies.

In addition to attacking government buildings, the gunmen in the state have abducted people and killed a number of residents.

Mr. Soludo stated that his administration was still willing to grant the gunmen amnesty in exchange for their dropping their weapons and undergoing productive training.

“We want to use this opportunity again to appeal to those in the bush and forest – the criminals out there, the kidnappers – to come out. We are offering them the opportunity; to retrain them and help them start a new productive life,” he said.

The governor expressed his dismay that young people were losing their lives in criminal activity and gave the assurance that his administration was prepared to offer “a new future” to anyone willing to lay down their guns.

This is Mr. Soludo’s second time granting the state’s gunmen amnesty.

After paying a visit to Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra, at the State Security Service (SSS) facility in Abuja, the governor first made the offer in July.