Good day, good citizens of Nigeria, here are headlines from Nigerian Newspapers that may interest you today, Wednesday, December 22, 2021.
1. Electoral Act Amendment bill: Senators threaten to override Buhari, govs back President [Punch Newspaper]
A large number of senators have vowed to override the veto of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on the Electoral Act amendment bill.
This is just as The PUNCH learnt that Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had begun making moves to prevent the embarrassment of the President.
But the Nigeria Governors’ Forum supported Buhari for not assenting to the bill, saying his reasons were cogent.
The President had withheld assent to the bill in a letter which was sent to both chambers of the National Assembly. Read more.
2. Nigeria loses N499.32bn as Twitter ban hits 200 days [Punch Newspaper]
Nigeria’s economy has lost N499.32bn to the shutdown of Twitter since it came into effect on June 4, 2021.
On June 4, the Federal Government announced the suspension of Twitter after the social media platform deleted a tweet by the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). Telecommunication companies had on June 5 blocked access to Twitter after receiving a directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission to that effect.
According to the NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool, Nigeria’s economy loses N104.02m ($250,600) every hour to the ban on Twitter. It has been 4,800 hours (200 days) since the social networking site was blocked.
3. Customers groan as cash-strapped banks slash withdrawal limits [Punch Newspaper]
Amid a surge in demand for more cash by bank customers as the Yuletide season approaches, some Deposit Money Banks have slashed the withdrawal limits of their customers.
Findings across bank branches in some key cities in the country revealed that many customers could not withdraw the total amount they needed over the counter due to lack of adequate amount of cash on the part of the banks.
Some bank customers, who spoke to our correspondents, said bank officials simply reduced the amount their customers wanted to withdraw and asked them to use alternative channels to carry out their outstanding transactions.
4. Electoral Bill: 76 senators declare readiness to override Buhari’s veto [Vanguard Newspaper]
FOR the first time since the Senate was inaugurated in June 2019, no fewer than 76 senators, yesterday, indicated their readiness to go against the veto of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
As tension enveloped the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, the 76 senators drawn across party lines, Vanguard gathered, wrote down their names as those interested in overriding President Buhari’s veto.
The senators took the decision after, Senate President Ahmad Lawan read President Buhari’s letter withholding assent to the 2021 Electoral Act Amendment bill that was passed by the National Assembly.
5. NYSC reacts to Corps member proposing to female soldier [NewsWireNGR]
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has reacted to the incident of a Corps member proposing to an unnamed female soldier at an orientation camp in Kwara.
The Director-General of the NYSC while addressing the media on Tuesday at the orientation camp in Yikpata, Kwara state said “we always tell our corps members to play by the rules”.
According to him, “Every organisation has its own customs and traditions, and we have to abide by it. We, on our part, have spoken to our corps members.
“We encourage them to inter-marry, but we have never had a situation where a corps member will go and propose (to a soldier).” Read more.
