Africa Press-Nigeria:
1. The suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has been accused of turning EFCC into `glorified police station’ for alleged selfish motives. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accusation was contained in a report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari by one of the investigative committees set up to look into the activities of the EFCC under Magu. According to the report, Magu has continued seconding police officers to the EFCC in spite of the massive recruitment of officers and men carried out by the commission in recent years.
2. A former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), has said that he never campaigned for the All Progressives Congress (APC) nor President Muhammadu Buhari against President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 Nigeria election. A statement he personally signed on Sunday stressed that he was only involved in the attempt to forge an alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
3. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has reacted to the allegations made against him by Joy Nunieh, a former Acting Managing Director of Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. Nunieh recently made some damning revelations about the Minister and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State on his handling of the Ministry but Akpabio said the former NDDC MD has character problem. The Minister also requested that the four husbands of Nunieh, whom she had allegedly divorced, be brought to attest to her temperament.
4. The Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC has said that the total number of COVID-19 patients discharged in the country stands at 13,447. The health agency made the confirmation in a tweet via its official Twitter account on Sunday. It also announced that 571 new cases of the viral infection have been recorded in 20 states, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 32,558. 16 new COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the last 24 hours across Nigeria with the death toll in the country rising to 740.
5. Seven policemen lost their lives on Sunday evening along Kaduna-Zaria road. According to a military personnel who was close to the scene of the accident, the speeding 18 seater vehicle somersaulted around Jaji Military Cantonment. It is not clear where the policemen were coming from, but it was learnt they were heading towards Zaria from Kaduna when the accident happened.
6. At least, four top officials in the deputy governor’s office in Kwara State have been infected with the deadly coronavirus disease. Warning the people of the state to always adhere strictly with the safety protocols on the disease, the deputy governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, called on Kwarans to take responsibility in the fight against COVID-19.
7. Nigeria Police operatives have rescued an American lady confined in a Lagos hotel where she was held against her wish for over a year. Force spokesman, Frank Mba, made this known in a statement on Sunday. The victim, from Washington DC, is a retired civil servant in the United States. She arrived Nigeria on 13th February, 2019 on a visit to a Nigerian, Chukwuebuka Kasi Obiaku whom she met on Facebook.
8. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured all Nigerians that President Muhammad Buhari will not condole any form of corrupt practices. The party stated that the administration was committed to fighting graft. APC said this in reaction to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) comment about alleged corrupt practices in the government. The ruling party noted that the PDP is the founder of corruption in Nigeria, to the extent that it was made an official way of life during its 16 years.
