This week was a rollercoaster of buzzy stories, from politics to pop culture and while we routinely reported each of these stories from our YNaija desk, here’s a roundup of everything that went down in the past six days and are still trending today:
AIT/Raypower shut down by NBC
Private media houses AIT and Raypower were shut down by the NBC on Thursday, following a broadcast of ”inflammatory” tweets that was broadcasted on AIT’s Kakaaki Social, an extension of the station’s breakfast show that extracts social media comments on political conversations. Airing those tweets had breached the NBC broadcast code, but what’s perplexing is the official Twitter handle of Aso Rock propagating the press statement of the NBC sanction of AIT/Raypower. See for yourself:
NOTICE: FULL TEXT OF PRESS BRIEFING ON SUSPENSION OF DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC BROADCAST LICENSE (@AIT_Online / @RaypowerNetwork) by @nbcgovng | June 6, 2019 pic.twitter.com/Mwmv3vqQzx
— Government of Nigeria (@AsoRock) June 6, 2019
Fresh Abacha loot uncovered in Channel Island
During the week, a UK court seized the sum of £211m traced to the late General Sani Abacha, which was found in a Jersey bank account on Channels Island. According to Metro UK, the late Head of State laundered money through the US into the Channel Islands. The money was put in accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company.
Dorcas Shola Fapson’s screen adaptation of ”I Got Flowers Today”
Social media was buzzing this week with Dorcas Shola Fapson’s adaptation of Paulette Kelly’s 1992 poem I Got Flower Today. You can read an elaborate critique of the adaptation here.
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Big Brother Naija premieres June 30
The long-awaited reality show Big Brother Naija now has a premiere date. Guys, mark June 30 on your calendar because the drama will be red-chili hot.
Nigeria’s Muhammad-Bande emerges UNGA president
Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, emerged president of the 74th UN general assembly. Muhammad-Bande, sole candidate for the position, emerged through acclamation at the 87th plenary meeting of the Assembly in New York on Tuesday. He is the second Nigerian to hold the office after Joseph Garba, a retired military officer and diplomat, who led the organ between 1989 and 1990.
Buhari has not approved state police – Presidency
President Muhammadu Buhari has not approved the formation of state police structures as being reported by some newspapers, the Presidency said on Monday. A statement signed by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said President Buhari Monday rather received a report on the reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Court grants bail to woman who claimed snake ”stole” JAMB’s N35m
An FCT High Court on Monday admitted Philomina Chieshe, charged with alleged “missing” N35 million belonging to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to bail in the sum of N20 million. Mrs Chieshe, a clerical officer with JAMB, was arraigned last Friday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside Samuel Sale Umoru, a state coordinator with JAMB.
Kano anti-corruption recommends Sanusi’s suspension
The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission recommended the suspension of Muhammadu Sanusi, emir of Kano. The commission said during its investigation, it uncovered that N3.4 billion was misspent by the emirate under Sanusi. The amount was said to have been misappropriated between 2014 and 2017.
Ihedioha gives Okorocha 24 hours to handover
The Imo state governor, Emeka Ihedioha, has given the immediate past Governor of Imo, Rochas Okorocha up to midnight of Tuesday June 4, 2019 to do a proper handover to his government.
Ihedioha spoke at the Government House in Owerri, during the swearing into office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Uche Onyeaguocha and Chief of Staff, Chris Okewulonu.
African Union suspends Sudan over violence against protesters
According to Al Jazeera, the African Union (AU) has suspended Sudan’s membership days after the military launched a brutal crackdown on protesters that killed dozens of people.
The AU’s Peace and Security Department said in a post on Twitter on Thursday that Sudan’s participation in all AU activities would be suspended with immediate effect – “until the effective establishment of a civilian-led transitional authority,” which it described as the only way to “exit from the current crisis”.
The announcement followed an emergency meeting by the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after the violent dispersal of a protest camp in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, began on Monday.
When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.
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