Top Nigerian Newspaper Headlines For Today, Wednesday, 29th January, 2025

Good morning Nigeria. Welcome to the Naijaonpoint roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today, Wednesday, 29th January, 2025

President Bola Tinubu has assured of the commitment of his administration to expanding and fast-tracking universal energy access for Nigerians by 2030.
He stated that these can be achieved through strategies such as increasing electricity access, boosting clean cooking solutions for people and expanding renewable energy to 50% of the energy mix amongst others.

Naijaonpoint reports the Nigerian President made the commitment in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, during the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit.

During the meeting which also had other African Leaders, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Heads of International Finance Institutions and other stakeholders in attendance, President Tinubu appealed to all partners to join hands in ensuring affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is delivered to every Nigerian.

The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of paying opposition leaders ₦50 million each to undermine Nigeria’s democratic process.

He lamented that democracy in the country might collapse soon if urgent action is not taken to combat corruption.

Atiku shared his reservation at a national conference on strengthening democracy, organized by various civic organizations in Abuja on Monday.

According to Atiku, “I want to say it here publicly. I met with a political party leadership in the present opposition, and they told me flatly that this government gives them N50 million each.

“If we are not careful, we are talking to some of you here, but you are recipients of the N50 million from the APC government. Do we really want to fight for democracy?”

Atiku lamented the erosion of democratic values, criticizing the current National Assembly as a “rubber stamp” for the government and raising doubts about the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral umpire.

He cited an example from Turkey, where the electoral body refused to declare a president-elect who fell short of the required vote threshold, as a benchmark of integrity Nigeria should emulate.

Calling for opposition parties to unite, he reflected on his decades-long struggle for democracy, noting personal sacrifices, including an attempt on his life, the seizure of his businesses, and exile.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, would not have succeeded without Nyesom Wike.

Naijaonpoint reported that Governor Mohammed and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister have been at each other’s heel over Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership.

The Governor called Wike a transactional politician; Wike in response described him as a greedy man.

According to the FCT Minister, the Bauchi Governor was not supposed to be the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, the position should be held by a southern governor.

In a statement on Tuesday, signed by himself, Dogara slammed Mohammed for describing Wike as a transactional politician.

He recalled that it was the former Rivers State Governor that secured Mohammed’s ticket to be PDP candidate and funded majorly his governorship campaign.

The former speaker of the House further disclosed that Mohammed, when he was FCT Minister under President Goodluck Jonathan, had no funds to finance his campaign.

According to Dogara, the Bauchi State Governor lied that he was capable of funding his campaign. He added that except for Wike, the ₦48 million they raised for Mohammed could not have funded his campaign.

The trending news about the purported arrest of the notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, has been debunked by the Defence Head Quarters (DHQ).

According to the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, on Tuesday, the news regarding the capture of Turji by military troops is fake and should be disregarded.

He said, “All news regarding the arrest of Bello Turji by troops should be treated as fake news, please.”

The clarification became necessary after social media reports claimed troops of Operation Fasan Yamma in the North West region of Nigeria have captured Turji.

Similarly, a counter-insurgency analyst in Lake Chad, Zagazola Makama, has dismissed the purported arrest of the notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, by troops of Operation Fasan Yanma.

In a statement via X on Tuesday, Makama described Turji’s arrest claims as false and misleading.

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has declared that he has no plans of dumping the All Progressives Congress (APC).

El-Rufai made the clarification on Tuesday when he was asked directly about his plans by journalists at the venue of a just concluded National Conference in Abuja.

He added that he has been vocal about misgivings in the party because he wants to see a change.

In response to further questions on why he has been hard on the party, El-Rufai said: “No, no, no, I want them to change.”

It would be recalled that El-Rufai, had while speaking on Monday, said the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) has deviated from its founding mission.

Naijaonpoint reports that El-Rufai said he no longer recognizes his party. He stated that APC was created to solve a problem, but that would not be possible again.

Speaking at a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, he said, “I no longer recognize the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show.”

The former Minister of the Federal Captial Territory (FCT) urged Nigerians to resist incapable leaders and illiterates ascending to leadership positions.

The National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has stated that his position can only be vacated through a national convention, emphasizing the process of his election.

Anyanwu made this assertion during an ongoing meeting between the National Working Committee (NWC) members from the South East and party stakeholders in the region.

Reflecting on past events, he disclosed, “In 2023, I wanted to contest for the governorship of my state and I wrote the party that I will be away for three months.

“And I asked my deputy to hold forth until my return. Unknown to me, the former South East Zonal Vice Chairman, Ali Odefa was plotting to remove me from office.”

He further alleged that Odefa misled the South East’s only PDP governor, Peter Mbah, into supporting his removal.

The Presidency has slammed former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, for his comments on democracy in the country.

Naijaonpoint reported that El-Rufai, on Monday, while speaking at a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed to live up to its promises to the citizens.

The former Kaduna governor said the gap between and the party was widening. He noted that the ruling party deviated from its founding mission and would not be able to deliver on its promises to the people.

He further said that the hardship in the country was a product of illiterates and semi-illiterates occupying positions of authority.

Reacting to the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT) position, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, accused him of planning to unseat a government he helped to form.

On his X handle, in reaction to El-Rufai’s words, Bwala questioned if he (El-Rufai) could make the statements he made if he were in the cabinet of the current government.

Troops of the Nigerian Military have made a fresh discovery of a cache of firearms in Zamfara State in the course of their search for notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji.

Naijaonpoint reports the troops of 1 Brigade of the Joint Task Force Operation Fansan Yamma, in collaboration with operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), intercepted the cache of arms in the Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

According to a statement on Tuesday by the Coordinator Joint Media Coordinator Centre, Operation Fansan Yamma, Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Abdullahi, the discovery was made during an operation conducted on Monday, January 27.

He disclosed that the operation was carried out based on intelligence regarding suspected arms dealers operating from the Niger Republic, which led the troops to launch a covert operation to track the suspects, resulting in a pursuit along the Kaura Namoda-Zurmi Road.

According to the statement, the suspects attempted to escape by diverting their vehicle into the bush but were forced to abandon it after being engaged by the troops.

Abdullahi added that the troops are still actively pursuing Turji and assured that despite evading capture by moving from one hideout to another, the bandit leader would soon be captured.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi and a former Governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, as desperate politicians.

Naijaonpoint reports that Atiku, Peter Obi and El-Rufai had attacked President Bola Tinubu-led APC administration over its economic policies.

At the national conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja on Monday, Atiku had reportedly warned that the nation’s democracy was somewhat imperiled by judicial involvement in electoral matters.

Atiku also accused Tinubu’s government of paying opposition leaders ₦50 million each to undermine Nigeria’s democratic process.

In response, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement on Monday said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently disintegrating and sinking into oblivion due to the political desperation and excesses of Atiku.

Morka stated that like a badly broken record, Atiku has continued to point fingers at APC for the festering rot in his party, and the spectacular dysfunction of opposition parties generally.

The ruling party also dismissed allegations by Atiku that it was paying the sum of ₦50 million to some opposition leaders in order to weaken the opposition.

The presidency has highlighted some major points articulated by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday during his speech at the Energy Summit in Tanzania.

The highlights of the President’s speech were shared on the X platform by his Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun.

Among other things, he noted that the Nigerian government fully supports the move to transform the energy capacity of Africa by bringing access to electricity to 300 million people by 2030.

The presidential media aide disclosed that Tinubu, in his speech, said Nigeria is heavily invested in renewable energy development as the federal government is in the final stages of developing an EV charging infrastructure across the country, with 100 electric buses already procured in the first phase.

Olusegun said the current administration attracted new investments totalling ₦6 billion in 2024 alone for energy-related projects.

That’s the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naijaonpoint. See you again tomorrow.