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1. Senate Confirms Mahmood Yakubu As Electoral Board Chairman [Premium Times] The confirmation is for a second and final term.
   
   
2. Why We Killed 78 Rice Farmers in Borno - Boko Haram Leader [Daily Trust] The factional leader of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, Abubakar Shekau has confirmed that his group was responsible for the killing of rice farmers in Kwashebe Zabarmari axis of Jere Local government Area of Borno State.
   
   
3. Buhari Summoned Over Zabarmari Massacre [Premium Times] The lawmakers want the president to brief them on the state of security in Borno State.
   
   
4. Buhari Urges Use of Gas As Alternative to Petrol [Premium Times] Mr Buhari directs the Minister of State Petroleum Resources to commence the handover of mass transit buses to Organized Labour.
   
   
5. Again, Senate Asks Buhari to Sack Service Chiefs [Premium Times] This is the third time the Senate will ask the president to sack the Service Chiefs who, they said, are bereft of new ideas to tackle insurgency.
   
   
6. Communities in Oil-Rich Niger Delta Pin Hopes On Shell Climate Case [Thomson Reuters Foundation] Dakar -- Green groups are taking the oil giant to court in a bid to force it to cut emissions, with locals in Nigeria seeking an end to gas flaring
   
   
7. 'Nigeria Spent U.S.$6,2 Billion on HIV Patients in 2019' [Daily Trust] The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Gambo Aliyu, yesterday said Nigeria spent $6.2bn (equivalent N2.36 trillion) to identify and treat 70 percent of the estimated 1,080,000 persons living with HIV last year.
   
   
8. Nigerian Govt Built Nine New Dams in Four Years - Official [Premium Times] Ministry warns against dumping of refuse in dams
   
   
9. Court Jails Swedish-Nigerian Woman for Child Trafficking [This Day] A Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, has sentenced a Swedish-Nigerian woman, Ms. Stephany Isaksson, aged 43, to four-year jail term for child trafficking.
   
   
10. The Milkmaid Is Nigeria's Official Submission for 2021 Oscars [This Day] The Nigerian Official Selection Committee (NOSC) has announced "The Milkmaid", a film by Desmond Ovbiagele as the official submission for the 93rd Academy Awards in the International Feature Film (IFF) category of the Oscars.
    
    
11. Proposed Medical Free Zone to Curb Capital Flight, Says Nepza Boss [This Day] The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Export Process (NEPZA), Prof. Adesoji Adesugba has said the proposed medical free zone project will revolutionalise the healthcare sector and put an end to medical tourism in the country.
    
    
12. Buhari Transmits Finance Bill 2020 to House [This Day] President Muhammadu Buhari has presented the Finance Bill 2020 to the House of Representatives for consideration and passage into law.
    
    
13. Bauchi Community Records 47 Snake Bites in Seven Months [Premium Times] Adamu Suleiman, Secretary, Duguri Ward Development Committee (WDC), in Alkaleri Local Government Area (LGA) of Bauchi State, says the community recorded about 42 snake bites from May to November 2020.
    
    
14. EFCC Urges Court to Revoke Fani-Kayode's Bail [Premium Times] Counsel to the EFCC wants the bail granted Femi Fani-Kayode revoked because the latter has continued to be absent in court for his trial.
    
    
15. One Killed, Five Injured As Hoodlums Clash in Ibadan [Premium Times] "The hoodlums came from neighbouring streets. They used pistols, animal bones, bottles to stab and wound people," a witness said.
    
    
16. Abuja Panel to Hear Case On Extrajudicial Killing [Premium Times] The case dates back to the 2018 killing of a youth corps member, who was allegedly shot by a SARS officer at a checkpoint in Abuja.
    
    
17. American University Appoints Ganduje, Caught On Video Collecting Bribe, As Professor [Premium Times] Mr Ganduje was appointed as a visiting professor to ECU based on his "accomplishment in good governance and genuine investment in human capital development."
    
    
18. Governor Umahi Sacks Pius Anyim's Kinsmen [Vanguard] BARELY two weeks after the kinsmen of former Governor Sam Egwu were sacked from the administration of Governor David Umahi, another set of appointees from former Senator Anyim Pius Anyim's Local Government Area of Ivo were some minutes ago relieved of their appointments.
    
    
19. Zabarmari Massacre - Angry Northern Youths Blast Garba Shehu Over 'Security Clearance' Comment [Vanguard] Angry northern youths under the umbrella of Youths Progressive Alliance (northern zone) have reacted to comments made by the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu who was quoted to have said the 43 rice farmers who died at the hands of Boko Haram in Borno state did not get security clearance to go to their farms.
    
    
20. Immediate Past NCAA DG , Capt Usman Mukhtar Passes On At 63 [Vanguard] The immediate past Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and a former Commissioner of Nigeria Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, Captain Usman Mukhtar is dead.
    
    
21. The Zabarmari Massacre [This Day] The response to the last weekend bestial killing of dozens of rice farmers in Zabarmari should go beyond lamentation and making the usual calls on the President to wake up to his duty as the Commander-in-Chief.
    
    
22. Onu - Nigeria to Launch Another Satellite Soon [This Day] The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has revealed that the federal government is planning to launch another satellite into space to stop television stations from paying huge amounts of money to foreign satellite firms for live coverage of events.
    
    
23. NGO Begins 'Giving Season' to Fight Cancer [Vanguard] GivingTide International has thrown its weight behind the war against cancer with the goal of establishing the first Comprehensive Cancer Centre, CCC, in Nigeria.
    
    
24. Lawan Frustrates Moves to Force Senate to Adjourn Sitting [Vanguard] PRESIDENT of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan on Wednesday during the plenary session, frustrated moves to push the lawmakers to adjourn sitting.
    
    
25. CBN Introduces Special Bills to Mop Up Idle Cash in Economy [Vanguard] The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a special bill to mop up excess liquidity (idle cash) in the economy.
    
    
26. Buhari Presides Over 26th Virtual FEC [Vanguard] Abuja -- President Muhammadu Buhari is currently presiding over the 26th virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    
    
27. Autogas - Automobile Conversion to Cost Owners N250,000 in Nigeria [Vanguard] The Federal Government has disclosed that automobile owners will pay up to N250, 000 for conversion targeted at enabling them run on gas.
    
    
28. Tanker Explosion At Magboro Bridge Lagos [Vanguard] There was tanker explosion at Magboro Bridge, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway early Wednesday morning.
    
    
29. CBN Issues Fresh Directives On Foreign Currency Payment of Diaspora Remittance [Vanguard] The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN) has issued fresh directives to International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) on foreign currency payment in cash to beneficiaries of diaspora remittances.
    
    
30. Kano Govt Says Kwankwasiyya Group Has No Platform to Contest LG Elections [Vanguard] Kano -- Kano State government says the Kwankwasiyya movement's claim to have withdrawn from the forthcoming local government elections in the state is nothing but a face-saving scheme, considering that it has no platform to partake in the January local government polls.