1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday urged the Senate to consider and confirm four nominees as members of the Police Service Commission (PSC). The nominees are Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, Buba Ringim (rtd); Hon, Justice Adamu Paul Galumje JSC (rtd.); Christine Ladi Dabup and Abdulfatah Muhammed.
2. Amnesty International has said the Nigeria police used excessive force against protesters during the nationwide #EndBadGovernance demonstrations from 1 to 10 August, killing at least 24 people in Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Niger states. The Country Director, Isa Sanusi made this known during a media briefing and presentation of its report.
3. The Senate on Thursday passed for second reading the four controversial tax reform bills transmitted to it by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This followed a lead debate on the bills presented by Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) and debated by senators during plenary.
4. The Federal Government has disclosed that it spent over N8.8bn to repair and put into functional use 128 transmission towers that were vandalised across the country. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engr. Suleiman Ahmed Abdulaziz, made the disclosure at the Quarterly Power Sector Working Group meeting in Abuja.
5. The House of Representatives has approved Olufemi Oluyede as the Chief of Army Staff, COAS. The confirmation came after a report was presented by Babajimi Benson, the chairman of the Committee on Defense.
6. The Naira on Thursday appreciated to N1,740 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,745 per dollar on Wednesday. Likewise, the Naira appreciated to N1,644.86 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.
7. A Federal Capital Territory court will, today, hear the lawsuit brought by the Department of State Services, DSS, against the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP. Two senior lawyers, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, will represent SERAP in court before Justice Yusuf Halilu, Court 13.
8. The operational capacity of the newly rehabilitated Port Harcourt Refining Company came under intense scrutiny on Thursday. This was following claims that petroleum products loaded from the facility on Tuesday were not newly refined but products stored in the storage tank of the facility in the last three years.
9. The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, has announced the approval of a licence for the construction of a new refinery. The approval given to a company named Process Design and Development Limited is to establish and construct a new 27,000 barrels per day refinery in Gombe State.
10. Protesters on Thursday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly to express their opposition to the imposition of a traditional ruler in the Ajah area of the state. The protesters, comprising members of the Ajah community, argued that the Obaship of Ajah was still pending in court and that the Lagos State Government should maintain the status quo.
