Headlines
Presidential Inauguration Holds May 29, Not June 12
The Presidency has said there is no truth in reports that the Federal Government is considering shifting the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari for second term from May 29 to June 12.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made the clarification in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday.
Media reports last week claimed Buhari would be inaugurated on June 12, the day the government has declared as the country’s new Democracy Day.
But Shehu told our correspondent that the President’s first term would expire on May 29, 2019, having been inaugurated on May 29, 2015.
He said those who were behind the reports were only attempting to cause confusion in the polity.
The presidential spokesman promised that the Presidency would soon issue a statement on the matter.
He said, “There is no truth in that report. As a matter of fact, we will soon issue a statement on it to clear the air.
“The President was inaugurated for his first term in office on May 29, 2015. He ceases to be President on May 29, 2019, if he is not inaugurated for his second term on that day.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no plan to shift the President’s inauguration to June 12. The inauguration will hold on May 29. Those claiming that the inauguration will be shifted to June 12 are only trying to cause confusion in the polity. It is not true.”
Buhari had last year changed the nation’s Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 of every year.
A bill he sent to the National Assembly to amend the the nation’s Public Holidays Act had since been passed into law.
The declaration was part of the decision taken to honour the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
The President had also at the time honoured Abiola with the highest national honour of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, posthumously.
He also honoured Abiola’s running mate in the election, Babagana Kingibe, with the second highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Order of Niger.
The Punch
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
