1. The Federal Government said yesterday it has begun diplomatic engagement with the United States over its new visa policy for Nigerians. The revised visa policy announced by the US State Department on Tuesday limits Nigerian non-immigrant visas to a three-month single-entry.
2. At least 13 people, including a mobile police officer and three vigilantes, were reportedly killed when armed bandits raided Mongoro community in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State. At about 5pm on Wednesday, residents of Wamba, also in Mariga LGA, told Daily Trust that their community remained under siege by the attackers.
3. The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, on Wednesday disclosed that the agency had begun investigating the financial records of the oil and gas sector and had already uncovered “mind-boggling” levels of corruption. He revealed that the ongoing probe into the oil and gas sector is only scratching the surface of widespread fiscal malfeasance.
4. The National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has cautioned critics of the Bola Tinubu administration against underestimating the President’s leadership and commitment to transforming Nigeria, insisting that such critics belong to the past era with outdated ideas and failed records. According to him, people who underestimate him are doing so at their own peril.
5. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, in the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Mr Boss Mustapha, on Wednesday subtly dismissed insinuations that the contributions of any particular leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC-led to the emergence of Buhari as president in 2015. He said he said Buhari already had over 12 million existing votes and that the merger of the legacy parties brought in three million votes.
6. The Senate has begun moves to amend the Electricity Act, 2023, to criminalise critical electricity infrastructure vandalism across the country, in the face of rising wave of recurrent sabotage by vandals. The bill, sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe on Wednesday scaled second reading and the president of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, thereafter, referred it to the committee on power.
7. The African Democratic Congress has accused the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of plotting to suppress legitimate opposition under the guise of national security, following recent claims by a presidential aide. In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, the party said it had no intention of undermining democracy but is solely focused on rescuing Nigeria from what it described as the “irredeemable incompetence” of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
8. The Senate on Wednesday launched a sweeping probe into the rise of Ponzi schemes in the country, following the catastrophic collapse of Crypto Bridge Exchange, a digital investment platform that allegedly fleeced Nigerians of over N1.3tn. The Ponzi scheme has been described as one of the largest financial scams in the nation’s history.
9. There was panic at the Ekwulobia and Oko communities in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, on Wednesday, when some yet-to-be-identified gunmen, in large numbers, invaded the areas and started shooting indiscriminately, killing about four persons and injuring many others in the process. It was gathered that they also set ablaze one of the security vehicles used by the joint security team in the area and some other vehicles.
10. A devastating fire incident, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, destroyed five shops and a form factory at two different locations in Oyo State. The five shops were destroyed beside Olowo-Ifon Shopping Complex, Orita Challenge, in Ibadan, the state capital, while the foam factory incident occurred at Global Crystal foam Nigeria Limited located at the Oko-Oba Area of Akinmorin Road in Oyo town.
