10 things you need to know this morning

Good morning! Here are 10 things you need to know this morning:

1. The Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja yesterday nullified the election of Governor Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), and declared Aisha Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress, APC, winner of the election. The tribunal in its judgment held that Ishaku was not validly nominated as candidate of the PDP, therefore was not qualified to contest the governorship election.

2. Troops of the Nigeria Army on Saturday recorded a major success in Konduga and Bama on Saturday when they conducted 23 kilometers wide clearance operations. Report says four Boko Haram enclaves along the route of the operations were cleared and some terrorists killed, while two were captured alive and currently undergoing investigation. 20 people were also rescued alive.


3. Report has claimed that a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Chief Olu Falae has been flown to the United Kingdom for a thorough medical treatment. This is coming after he was kidnapped by some suspected Fulani herdsmen on his farm in Ilado village, Akure. North Local Government Area of Ondo State on his birthday.

4. What appears like landslide has killed four children of same father on Saturday. The incident happened in Orisha area of Isheri-Magodo, Ojodu, Lagos State. According to report, three of the children were of the same mother, while one belonged to the man’s second wife.

5. As the Nigerian Golden Eaglets prepare for today’s showdown against Mali, President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday afternoon spoke via telephone with members the team ahead of the encounter. The President urged them to repeat the feat of 30 years ago when the country became the first African country to win a FIFA tournament.

6. The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday announced that ‎President Muhammadu Buhari will swear in his ministers next week Wednesday. He is also expected to announce their portfolios almost immediately.


7. Following the Tribunal’s judgment that nullified his election, Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has assured his supporters across the State that he will appeal the verdict of the Elections Petitions Tribunal, and expressed hope that he will get his mandate back.

8. The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osin­bajo has assured Nigerians that the country’s economy will be fixed by the current government, mainly through the instrumentality of the President, himself and other ministers in the government.

9. An emerging report has it that British flag carrier, Virgin Atlantic Airways, has stopped its operation on Nigerian routes.
According to an unconfirmed report, the airline has sacked all Nigerian cabin crew and shut its call centre in Ikeja, Lagos.

10. A comparative report on governors’ performance in Nigeria carried out by a Lagos-based Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies, CIAPS, has rated Governors Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Abdulaziz Yari
(Zamfara), Idris Wada (Kogi), Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe) and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) as the worst performing governors in the country. Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and his Sokoto counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal were however rated as the first and second best performing governors with 72 per cent, 64 per cent, respectively.