A downpour of development commissions
+ PDP Chairmanship & ISWAP leader
Good morning.
Welcome to the Friday briefing. This newsletter keeps you updated with the latest news from Nigeria. Don’t forget to subscribe to receive it in your email before 7 am (WAT) every weekday.
And if you find it useful, do me a favour and share it with your friends, family, colleagues, and everyone you think may benefit. Thank you.
PDP looks North
The Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday took one step closer to choosing a new National Chairman when its Northern leaders picked Senator Iyorchia Ayu as their consensus candidate.
Senator Ayu is expected to be confirmed at the party’s national convention scheduled for October 30 and 31 as the PDP has zoned the chairmanship to the North.
“With this, we are fully prepared, we are ready. We will be talking with our colleagues from other parts of the country, especially the south, to see reasons for this consensus candidate and give us their support,” said Mr. Ahmadu Fintiri, the Governor of Adamawa State and chairman of the PDP National Convention Organising Committee.
Two other contestants, a former governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, and a former senator from Bauchi State, Abdul Ningi, withdrew from the race for Senator Ayu to emerge as the chosen one.
Significance: It is not yet clear how Senator Ayu’s emergence will affect PDP’s plans for 2023 but Punch Newspaper is reporting that it could open the path for the party’s zoning of its Presidential candidate to the North.
A downpour of development commissions
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed four bills setting up development commissions for the South-West, South-East, North-West and North-Central.
These commissions are to be funded by the federal government and help provide infrastructure and alleviate poverty.
The South-East version will also help in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and reparation for houses and lost businesses of victims of the civil war and address any other environmental or developmental challenges in the region.
A bill for the establishment of a South-South development commission is also in the pipeline after it passed the second reading in the House.
I know what you are thinking. I’m thinking the same too. Welcome to Nigeria.
Military confirms death of ISWAP leader
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, on Thursday confirmed the death of the leader of jihadist group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Abu Musab al-Barnawi.
“I can authoritatively confirm to you that al-Barnawi is dead. As simple as that. He is dead and remains dead,” CDS Irabor told reporters.
However, ISWAP has not given any confirmation of al-Barnawi’s death and the army has announced deaths of jihadists commanders before, only for them to reappear.
Related: Over 13,000 suspected terrorists have surrendered to Nigerian troops in the last two weeks, according to the Defence Headquarters.
What else is happening?
Charles Soludo: The Supreme Court has confirmed the former CBN boss as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the imminent Anambra elections.
Yemi Osinbajo: The Vice President has asked states to think like sovereign entities in order to be able to increase their internally generated revenues.
Kaduna State: Three seminarians abducted from Christ the King Major Seminary, Fayit, Fadan Kagoma, Jema’a Local Government Area, have regained their freedom.
ASUU: The academic union has asked the National Assembly to pass a bill that compels public officials to enrol their wards in public schools.
Femi Falana: The senior lawyer has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop any attempt by the police to stifle peaceful protests commemorating #EndSARS.
Covid: A total of 3,577,860 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have arrived in Nigeria from the United States via COVAX.
University of Ibadan: Kayode Adebowale, a professor of chemistry, has emerged as the school’s 13th substantive Vice-Chancellor.
And that’s it for today. Have a fantastic weekend and see you on Monday.