Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. The Senate through its ad hoc committee mandated to investigate alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian petroleum industry, has summoned various stakeholders in the sector for interrogation. The 15-man committee led by the Leader of the Senate, Senator Micheal Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), made this known to journalists on Thursday.

2. The Department of State Services has warned against the planned nationwide protest in the country. The agency said on Thursday that it had already identified the sponsors of the planned protest and warned them not to proceed with it as it is not in Nigeria’s interest.

3. Eight school children were on Thursday rescued from a ghastly motor accident in Lokoja the Kogi State capital when a fully loaded truck fell on two cars. An Eyewitness account said that the children are pupils of Kingdom Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Lokoja.

4. President Bola Tinubu says he spent his personal fortune on election, expressing confidence that he has no cabal to compensate. The President, who received a delegation of Islamic leaders led by Sheikh Bala Lau, at the State House on Thursday, said his victory at the polls was purely by divine intervention.

5. President Bola Tinubu has admitted being part of different protests but without violence. The President said this when he received Letter of Credence from the newly appointed United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Mills Jr. at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

6. Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the President General of Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, is dead. Iwuanyanwu’s death was confirmed in a statement on Thursday by his son, Jide Iwuanyanwu.

7. The Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Thursday, asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to ensure that the planned nationwide protest over the current economic hardship in the country is not hijacked by hoodlums. Briefing newsmen in Abuja, President of TUC, Festus Osifo, said the Nigeria Police is mandated by the Police Act and the constitution to provide adequate security for protesters.

8. President Bola Tinubu and governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday held a closed door meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. It was reliably gathered that the meeting was not unconnected with efforts by the government to stop the planned nationwide protest.

9. The Edo State Police Command on Thursday confirmed the rescue of the abducted pastor, Solomon Ativiel, in Benin, the state capital. The command’s spokesperson, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed this to our correspondent, said that one suspected kidnapper was killed, while two others were injured during the rescue operation which was carried out on Tuesday.

10. The Senate has passed, for first reading, a bill aimed at enhancing fiscal transparency in local government administration. The bill, known as the “Local Government Fiscal Accountability Bill 2024 (SB, 549),” mandates the publication of monthly allocations to all Local Government Areas from the Federation Account.