Good morning! Here is today's summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The presidential intervention in the Rivers State political crisis achieved a headway on Monday, December 18, with sides in the impasse given instructions on moving forward. President Bola Tinubu met with the sides involved in the crisis and secured commitments from them to abide by a set of eight resolutions reached at the parley.
2. President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, on Monday, December 18. He tasked members to immediately get to work and warned that non-performance will not be tolerated. Speaking during the inauguration, Tinubu warned that conduct suggesting a sense of entitlement will not be tolerated.
3. No fewer than two people were reportedly killed, while valuables worth millions of Naira were also destroyed in a Monday morning inferno at one of the buildings in the Opadoyin compound of a former governor of Oyo State, late Adebayo Alao-Akala. According to a source, the inferno started around 7:50 am.
4. There are indications that the National Assembly may pass the 2024 budget of N27.5tn on Saturday as about 541 ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government conclude their defence. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Adeola Solomon, said the Senate would resume plenary on Wednesday to begin the process.
5. A yet-to-be identified husband allegedly murdered his wife in the Olota area of the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos over her failure to cook his meal last Thursday. It was learnt on Monday that trouble started when the husband, who was said to have returned from work, discovered that the wife only prepared noodles rather than his favourite meal.
6. Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have foiled an attempted kidnapping and armed robbery. They also recovered two AK-47 rifles with 13 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the suspects. The security operatives reportedly recovered the exhibits from where the culprits concealed them inside a vehicle engine compartment and in the trunk of the car.
7. The Vatican on Monday approved blessings for same-sex couples, a hugely contested issue in the Catholic Church, as long as they are not in contexts related to civil unions or weddings. In a document approved by Pope Francis, the Vatican backed "the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations (including unmarried couples or divorcees) and for couples of the same sex".
8. The Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, says it has deployed its entire workforce, including Special Marshals to the highways to ensure hitch-free movement of commuters across the country during the yuletide. A statement by Deputy Corps Marshal, Bisi Kazeem, on Monday in Abuja, said the personnel would combat traffic gridlock and ensure zero road traffic crashes.
9. A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, has issued an order freezing the accounts of the Oyo State Government in ten commercial banks in the country. The order was issued by Justice A. O. Ebong in a ruling on a garnishee proceeding initiated by ex-council leaders in Oyo State, who were sacked on May 29, 2019, by Governor Seyi Makinde.
10. The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday dismissed the petition by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its governorship candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani seeking to invalidate the election of Umar Ahmadu Fintiri as the duly elected governor of Adamawa State.
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