Newspaper review: Tension as Boko Haram issues strong threats, soldiers killed in ambush
As the nation continues to grapple with various challenges, major Nigerian dailies for Tuesday, August 9, are focused on some of those those challenges such as scarcity of dollar which may lead to an increase in the pump prices of petrol, crisis rocking the opposition party, tension over Boko Haram’s new threat and other issues.
The budget padding controversy is far from over as the police retrieved three versions of the budget from the sacked House of Representatives Appropriations Committee chairman, Abdulmumin Jibrin, on Monday, as probe of his allegation of padding began, The Nation.
The Nation front page
The three versions are the original copy laid before the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari, the version passed by the National Assembly but rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari due to omission of some key projects, such as the N60billion Calabar-Lagos rail project and the harmonised copy.
Following his removal, Jibrin had petitioned the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies, alleging that Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun, Chief Whip Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Minority Leader Leo Ogor and nine others padded the 2016 budget.
Report has it that the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) has started sieving the documents to isolate the padded areas by the House members, after which it would determine the list of those to be questioned alongside the 13 already implicated by Jibrin.
Jibrin had a two-hour session with the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Amodu Ali-led SIP yesterday.
On the front page of The Guardian is the headline, ‘Tension as militants kill three soldiers in Bayelsa.’
The Guardian front page
Suspected militants killed three soldiers attached to the joint force known as ‘Operation Delta Safe’ (ODS) in Nembe local council of Bayelsa state.
The attack occurred about 9.30am yesterday at a military checkpoint which has been mounted at the entrance of the Nembe community since the beginning of militancy in the Niger Delta.
The suspected militants were said to have ambushed operatives of the ODS at a checkpoint, after which they carted away military gunboats, rifles and other ammunition.
There was pandemonium during the attack which lasted for about 30 minutes as there were deafening sounds of gunshots in the community and residents who thought their community was under siege ran in different directions for safety.
Some residents in Nembe have started fleeing the community for fear of a reprisal by the military.
Daily Sun reports that the factional leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has resurfaced and is threatening to carry out the “mother of all attacks” on Abuja, capital of Nigeria.
Daily Sun front page
In a24-minute video which surfaced recently, Shekau said he would never recognise Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, as leader of Boko Haram.
The factional Boko Haram leader who spoke in Hausa and Arabic said he had no intention of waging war against Muslims.
He advised the Nigerian government and that of West Africa, not celebrate or gloat over the division among members of the dreaded sect, saying, “We will shock them with attacks never seen before, in no-distant time.”
The threat is coming on the heels of claims by the federal government that the militant group has been wiped out.
In other news, the contest for the office of the national chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is getting hotter, Vanguard reports.
Vanguard front page
The party is enveloped in deep intrigues over the issue of zoning or otherwise of the top party post.
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, the chairman of the national caretaker committee, has said the contest was open to all from the south, irrespective of last week’s decision by southern party leaders to micro-zone the position to the south west.
“Our party needs to move away from the era of imposition as events of “automatic ticket” led PDP to its present situation, and that is why I want to ensure level-playing field for all,” he stated.
Meanwhile, a meeting meeting of the leaders of the PDP in the south west geopolitical zone convened by Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state ended in a deadlock, yesterday, as they failed to agree on how to approach the convention, Leadership reports.
Leadership front page
Some chieftains of the party stormed out of the meeting which held in Akure, the Ondo state capital over the refusal to allow some members of Senator Buruji Kashamu’s entourage into the venue.
Those who stormed out of the meeting included the senator representing Ogun East senatorial district, Kashamu, and former secretary to Ekiti State government (SSG), Ambassador Dare Bejide.
They later reconvened at a hotel in Akure, describing the action of the conveners of the meeting as executive rascality.
In other news, The Punch reports that there may be another increase in the pump prices of petrol, due to the continued scarcity of foreign exchange to finance the importation of the product.
The Punch front page
According to oil marketers, if the development is not addresses urgently, the pump prices of petrol will not remain at the approved rates.
An official of one of the notable oil marketing companies, who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “The truth is that Nigerians just have to brace for higher PMS price; there are no two ways about it. The government cannot fund this market; the money is not just there. Even if the government wishes to assist, it does not have the wherewithal to do. So, Nigerians should brace for higher rates.”
A member of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria said the PMS dealers hardly got forex at the rate that the government initially promised them.
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