The newspapers for Monday, December 10, focus on the account of an unnamed soldier who survived a recent attack by Boko Haram insurgents on Nigerian Army 157 task force battalion in Metele, Borno state and the controversy surrounding President Buhari’s decision not to assent to the electoral act (amendment) bill 2018 among other stories.
One of the soldiers who survived a recent attack by Boko Haram insurgents on the Nigerian Army 157 task force battalion in Metele, Borno state, has said no fewer than 200 people lost their lives in the incident.
Vanguard reports that the soldier who spoke under the condition of anonymity said that Boko Haram members, who were earlier arrested by soldiers in the battalion but later released by superior authorities, were among the attackers.
Vanguard newspaper for Monday, December 10, credits: Snapshot from Legit.ng
The unnamed soldier said faulty Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and absence of aerial support from the Nigerian Air Force made it possible for the insurgents to inflict heavy casualties on the soldiers.
The surviving soldier also said apart from the poor equipment deployed to the battlefield, soldiers were being owed six months allowances.
His words: “The information about the Metele attack by the head of the Army, especially the Chief of Staff is wrong. I do not think they are doing what they are being paid to do. Soldiers are being killed daily, and their families are not being catered for properly.
"Last year, a celebration was hosted in Maiduguri to make sure that Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs returned to their respective areas. One hundred and fifty (150) vehicles left Abuja for Maiduguri for the exercise, 15 suddenly got missing and the 15 vehicles that got missing were painted green, with Operation Last Hold written on them.
"They are the vehicles being used in attacking military locations, including Gagiram that was first attacked.
Meanwhile, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has reiterates his support for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2019 presidential election.
The Punch reports that the former president on Sunday, December 9, dismissed as foolish reports that he had no preferred presidential candidate for the coming presidential election.
The Punch newspaper for Monday, December 10, credits: Snapshot from Legit.ng
The newspaper states that Obasanjo stated his position a statement by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, made available to journalists in Abeokuta.
READ ALSO: Electoral Bill: Senator kicks against overriding Buhari's veto
“…Only a fool will sit on the fence or be neutral when his or her country is being destroyed with incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity, nepotism, brazen impunity and denial of the obvious. Chief Obasanjo is no such fool nor is he so unwise,” the statement read in part.
“It is disingenuous, if not malicious, for anyone to suggest that Chief Obasanjo was being neutral when he chose not to use the Owu convention as a platform for political campaign but instead adopted a communal and familial approach in talking to members of his Owu family.
The statement noted that Obasanjo would not sit on the fence when he needs to be out and active for the Nigerian people to know where he stands in the best interest of the country.
In other news, Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, has clarified that despite the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the electoral act (amendment) bill 2018, which makes the use of card reader mandatory, the 2019 elections will not be conducted with incident form.
This Day reports that INEC’s director of voter education and publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, noted that the refusal of the president to assent to the electoral act poses no threat to the coming 2019 elections.
This Day newspaper for Monday, December 10, credits: Snapshot from Legit.ng
“While it may be better to have the necessary amendments to avoid some of the controversies that trailed the 2015 exercise, especially the place of technology and others the amendments seek to cure, we can still have good elections with the extant act as we did in 2015, which were adjudged free, fair and credible," Osaze-Uzzi stated.
READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda
The INEC official said the presidential veto had created no lacuna in the electoral legal regime, explaining that the electoral act 2010 as amended in 2015 would be the operative law.
In a related report, a presidency source has said Buhari declined to assent the electoral bill as passed by the lawmakers because the document was full of shortcomings that could compromise the credibility of the 2019 general elections if signed into law.
The Nation reports that the source noted that the electronic transmission of election results as provided for in the bill could be manipulated by hackers.
The Nation newspaper for Monday, December 10, credits: Snapshot from Legit.ng
”The Act is fraught with dangers, which, if ignored, could only create chaos and confusion during the 2019 elections, the source said.
“The president is validly worried about the loopholes in the Electoral Act that could undermine the will of the people.
“Forcing the hands of the President to sign the amended Electoral Act in its present form could result in chaos, thereby truncating the democratic process.
“We have discovered disturbing evidence that suggests that the nation’s interest has been sold off and all that the PDP will do is to hack into the mandatory electronic transmission of results to write whatever they wish and win. Government is determined to ensure that the votes count in the coming elections and have to do something to thwart their evil plan.
In another report, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has withdrawn its services from some airports in the country in protest against a debt of N2.608 billion allegedly owed by the facilities.
The Guardian reports that some airports affected by FAAN decision include the Murtala Muhammed Airport II (MMA2) terminal in Lagos and airports in Gombe, Kebbi and Delta states.
The Guardian newspaper for Monday, December 10, credits: Snapshot from Legit.ng
The newspaper states that FAAN in a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) worldwide on Saturday, December 8, said it would be withdrawing aviation security, firefighting and rescue operations from Osubi, Gombe and MMA2 beginning midnight Sunday, December 9, 2018.
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