Afternoon NEWS For Today (1/11/2020)

1) NBC, Lai sued by SERAP, 261 others over N9m fines on Channels, AIT, Arise TV

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has fulfilled its threat to sue the National Broadcasting Commission over the imposition of N9million fines on Channels TV, Arise TV and AIT.

And SERAP is not doing it alone.

It has 261 concerned Nigerians, civil society and media groups collaborating as plaintiffs in the case that will test the power of NBC to fine erring TV and radio stations, without the court.

In the suit, the 262 litigants added Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed and Professor Armstrong Idachaba, the acting DG of NBC as defendants.

The litigants are asking the court to declare as arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional the N3m fine each imposed on Channels, AIT and Arise TV for their coverage of the #EndSARS protests.

They are also asking the court to stop the NBC from collecting the money.

The co-plaintiffs in the suit are 255 concerned Nigerians; Premium Times Services Limited; Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development; HEDA Resource Centre; International Centre for Investigative Reporting; African Centre for Media and Information Literacy; and Media Rights Agenda.

The acting Director-General of the NBC, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, who is joined in the suit as Defendant, had last week announced fines of N9 million on Channels, AIT, and Arise TV for purported “unprofessional coverage” of the #EndSARS protests across the country.

But in the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1436/2020 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the Plaintiffs are seeking: “an order setting aside the arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional fines of N9 million and any other penal sanction unilaterally imposed by the NBC and Mr Lai Mohammed on Channels, AIT and Arise TV, and on any other radio/television stations simply for carrying out their professional and constitutional duties.”

2) Your time is now, protest not in vain – FG tells Nigerian youths

The Federal Government has assured Nigerian youths that the End SARS protests will not be in vain.

Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said this on Sunday via his Twitter page in celebration of Maiden National Youth Day.

According to him, the time had come for Nigerian youths to sit with the government and deepen their initiatives to effect a change.

His tweet read: “Nov 1- Today, Nigeria celebrates its Maiden National Youth Day. We focus on issues that concern our youth.

“With the protests that have occurred across the country, Nigeria stands at the cusp of change in youth development. Already, that change has begun. What is needed is to deepen the youth initiatives and accelerate the onboarding of beneficiaries in a transparent and effectual manner.”

The minister noted that Nigeria youths could be the country’s greatest resource if the right investments are made.

“As a country, we are blessed with a bulging youth population that can turn out to be the country’s greatest resource if we make the right investments and in a timely manner.

“The protest of our youth shall not be in vain. It is time to engage government constructively. Come to the table. I say to the youth -Your time has come,” Dare added.

3) End SARS: Buhari govt breaks silence on attacks on TVC, The Nation, reveals intention

The Nigerian Government has finally reacted to the vandalization of the properties of Television Continental, TVC, and the Nation Newspaper by hoodlums in Lagos State.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, on Saturday, described the action of the youths as assault on free press and democracy.

The Minister said the action was a premeditated attempt to silence the voice of reason and stifle press freedom.

“We believe that the attack on the Nation is not just an attack on the Vintage Press, it’s an attack on the free press, it’s an attack on democracy, because there can be no virile and robust democracy without a free media.

Therefore, an attack on the Nation or any media house is a direct attack on freedom of speech and also democracy and, honestly, we believe that there is no justification whatsoever for the attack,” Mohammed said.

4) We have no excuse – Gov El-Rufai calls for restructuring of Nigeria

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said it is time to restructure Nigeria, in order to ensure equitable distribution of resources.

El-Rufai stated this on Saturday, while speaking at a public lecture to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arewa House in Kaduna.

He cited the 2018 recommendations of the All Progressives Congress (APC) committee on restructuring and noted that there was a need to reorganise the country’s constitutional framework, in order to give states more control over certain resources.

According to El-Rufai, it will “empower state governments to cease passing the buck to the president and the federal government.”

“I, therefore, call on our federal legislators and the National Assembly ad hoc committee on constitutional review to take advantage of our report and initiate the constitutional and legislative amendments in either a piece-meal or comprehensive manner without further delay.

We , therefore, have no excuse not to seize this moment and do the heavy lifting for our country and our people.

“It is in our hands to make the structures, laws and constitutional arrangements in our country conducive to modern governance that will ensure our nation thrives in the 21st century,” El-Rufai said.

5) Nigeria’s Power Generation Hits Another Historic Peak In Two Days

The nation’s power sector has recorded yet another national peak generation, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said on Saturday.

Ms Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs at the TCN, disclosed this in a statement.

She stated that Nigeria recorded a peak power generation of 5,520.40MW at about 9:15pm on Friday, 60.90MW higher than the previous 5.459MW recorded on Wednesday.

The TCN spokesperson explained that the new national peak was a result of continued collaboration among players and the gradual increase of capacity in the power sector.

She noted that the transmission company, on its part, seamlessly transmitted the new peak at a frequency of 50.11Hz. through the nation’s grid, with the current capacity of 8,100MW.

Mbah noted that players in the power sector value chain have continued to work together to improve the nation’s power supply.

6) MJTF played significant role in rescuing American hostage’

The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) played a significant role in yesterday’s rescue of Philip Walton from his abductors, by a Naval Special Warfare group in the United States, better known as SEAL Team Six.

Walton, a 27-year-old American, was kidnapped in Niger Republic and held hostage in the country by his abductors before he was rescued in a neighbouring town in northern Nigeria.

New York Times, yesterday reported that, “Walton, the son of missionaries, lives with his wife and young daughter on a farm near Massalata, a small village close to the border with Nigeria. American and Nigerien officials had said that Mr. Walton was seized from his backyard on Monday in front of family members after assailants asked him for money.

He offered them $40 and was then taken away by the gunmen on motorbikes, the officials said. The captors demanded nearly $1 million in ransom for Mr. Walton’s release.

One American official said the assailants were criminals who intended to sell Mr. Walton to terrorist groups in the region. The operation was organized quickly with the assistance of officials in Niger and Nigeria, the official said,” the paper reported.

It added: “In the brief but intense firefight that ensued, all but one of the half-dozen or so kidnappers were killed. One captor escaped into the night. Mr. Walton was not harmed in the gun battle, and he walked out to a makeshift landing zone, where a U.S. helicopter whisked him to safety.

In a tweet, which had garnered over 128, 000 likes and over 31, 000 retweets, President Donald Trump, on his verified Twitter handle wrote: “Last night, our country’s brave warriors rescued an American hostage in Nigeria. Our nation salutes the courageous soldiers behind the daring night-time rescue operation, and celebrates the safe return of yet another American citizen!”

Trump added that the exercise was a “big win for our very elite U.S. Special Forces.”

The Chief Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, in volunteering further details of the exercise said the U.S. forces conducted the operation during the early hours of October 31, and Walton is “safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State.”

7) ‘Only Lagos Govt can invite us’, Army rejects Judicial Panel’s invitation over Lekki shooting

The Lagos State Judicial Panel probing the shooting of Endsars protesters on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, has reportedly invited the Nigerian Army to appear before it to answer questions regarding the incident.

But the army has kicked against the invitation by the panel led by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, saying they will only honour an invitation by the state government.

A member of the panel, who spoke on condition of anonymity said several authorities have been summoned including the military, adding that no date has been fixed for the appearance of the military before the panel.

“No date yet. But surely, we are summoning the military, police and everybody relevant to our probe. We have no limitation as to who we are going to summon. We want to get to the root of the case. The panel had agreed that a letter be dispatched to the military authorities,” the panel member said.