Good Day! Below is a Summary of News Stories Across Nigeria and Abroad:
1. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the change of nomenclature of the Federal Ministry of Aviation to the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace with immediate effect. This was revealed by the special adviser (media) to the minister of Aviation, Dr James Odaudu, in a statement on Thursday. He said the new nomenclature is in line with the nature of the sector, being under the exclusive management and regulation of the federal government. Also, the statement added that the concession of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano has been approved by the Council. LEADERSHIP
2. The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal on Thursday resumed for continuation of hearing in the suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The court is presently hearing the application for live coverage of proceedings. Counsel for Atiku and PDP, Chris Uche, said the motion dated May 5 and filed on the May 7 praying for an order of the court to allow the televising of the proceedings is important given the ‘monumental national significance’. This goes along with prayers for an order of the court directing the modalities of its implementation. He said it won’t make the proceedings look like a circus but will be solemn and serious business and everyone will get to see the proceedings, objectively. CHANNELS
3. The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar has said nothing can stop the inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu on May 29. Abubakar disclosed this while urging Nigerians to pray for Tinubu’s administration to succeed. He spoke at a roundtable engagement with traditional and religious rulers which was organized by the World Bank on Wednesday in Abuja. He charged Nigerians to be united and work towards ensuring equity and justice. DAILY POST
4. Montana on Wednesday became the first US state to ban TikTok, with the law set to take effect next year as the debate escalates over the impact and security of the popular video app. The prohibition signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte will serve as a legal test for a national ban on the Chinese-owned platform, something that lawmakers in Washington are increasingly calling for. The ban makes it a violation each time “a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok, or is offered the ability to download TikTok.” Each violation is punishable by a $10,000 fine every day it takes place. Under the law, Apple and Google will have to remove TikTok from their app stores and companies will face possible daily fines. PUNCH
5. Prolific filmmaker, Zeb Ejiro, says the collapse of deceased veteran actor, Obinna Nwafor aka Saint Obi’s marriage affected him so much, and that the actor never recovered from the shock until his death. Speaking in an interview, Ejiro said Obi couldn’t survive the shock of living apart from his family. Ejiro stated that he received a call from Saint Obi two weeks before his death where he intimated him about his protracted illness. Last week, Movie producer, Zik Zulu Okafor released an article where he narrated how actor Saint Obi’s marriage took him away from his friends and acting. Okafor who is also a former President of the Association of Movie Producers of Nigeria revealed that the actor’s wife was a top executive in a telecommunication company and her siblings always saw the actor as a “gold digger”. He alleged that Saint Obi was always harassed by his wife’s siblings and this eventually led to the end of the marriage. Okafor disclosed that the actor’s health deteriorated mid last year before his eventual death. LINDA
6. The Colombian military, firefighters and civil aviation authority officials discovered four children alive in a jungle where a plane had crashed two weeks earlier. President Gustavo Petro revealed this on Wednesday saying that the discovery was in an indigenous community in the south of the country located in Colombia’s Caqueta province, local media said. The plane – a Cessna 206 – was conveying seven people on a route between Araracuara, in Amazonas province, and San Jose del Guaviare, a city in Guaviare province, when it issued a Mayday alert due to engine failure in the early hours of May 1. Three adults, including the pilot, died as a result of the crash and their bodies were found inside the plane. The four children, aged 13, 9 and 4, as well as an 11-month-old baby, survived the impact. VANGUARD
7. Srichand Hinduja, the tycoon who headed Britain’s richest family, has died at the age of 87, a spokesman said. Hinduja had dementia and his plight had become the centre of a family feud that culminated in court proceedings about whether he should be taken into public care. The eldest of four brothers behind the Hinduja Group conglomerate, he died on Wednesday, according to a family spokesman. The Hindujas topped the Sunday Times Rich List in 2022 with a fortune estimated at £28.4 billion ($35.4 billion). CHANNELS
8. Following extensive consultation with stakeholders around the world, European Clubs Association (ECA) and FIFA have reached a key agreement on the release dates for players participating in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ owing to the specific calendar circumstances of this edition. The consensus framework takes into consideration the existence of different playing seasons (2022/2023 and 2023) for leagues around the world, with some players ending their club competition ahead of the tournament while others will have just started their season. The mandatory release date for players remains on 10 July 2023, and where a player has official club matches up to that date, the club is expected to retain the player unless otherwise mutually agreed between the member association and club concerned. LEADERSHIP
9. The ninth edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards is set to begin on Thursday, May 18, 2023 with an ‘Opening Night and Cultural Day’ event. This will formally kick off the series of activities preceding the award night scheduled to hold on Saturday, May 20. In a statement, the Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels at MultiChoice Nigeria, Busola Tejumola, noted that this year’s edition of the AMVCAs is focused on raising the bar when it comes to recognising and rewarding talents in the various aspects of the African film and television industry. PUNCH
10. Kenyan President William Ruto has suspended 27 government officials in connection with the illegal sugar that was imported into the country in 2018. According to local media, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) flagged the imported sugar for want of expiry date specification. KEBS marked the 20,000-50 kgs bags of sugar as unfit for human consumption and consequently ordered that it be destroyed at the owner’s cost by either burning or burying. But it was later decided that the consignment be conversed for industrial ethanol use, which was to be executed under the joint supervision of KEBS and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), within a multi-agency framework. PUNCH
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