Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Friday morning

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it has not taken a decision on the leadership crisis in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP). The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday evening.
2. About 200,000 people in Nigeria, many of them children, lose their lives annually from food-related diseases, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, has said. He said this during the launch of the food safety operational manual for food business operators, markets, and street food vendors in Abuja, on Thursday.
3. Governor Dikko Umar Radda of Katsina State, on Thursday, stormed the House of Representatives as three lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party from his state defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Radda was ushered into the chamber at 11:10 am to witness the defection of the lawmakers.
4. Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday warned that it is dangerous for Nigeria to slide into a one-party state. Jonathan warned that any attempt to bring about a one-party state through political machinations to soothe only personal aspirations would be detrimental to the country.
5. President Bola Tinubu said on Thursday that recent government policies are not meant to punish Nigerians but are necessary interventions to prevent the economy from collapsing. Tinubu made this known at the 55th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in Abuja.
6. Confusion, on Thursday, trailed the reported kidnap of 18 passengers, in Kogi State, as the state Police Command kept mum over the alleged abduction. It was however gathered that all occupants of an 18-seater bus plying the Itobe/Ochadamu road in Kogi East Senatorial district were abducted on Tuesday.
7. The Osun State Police Command has begun an investigation after the body of a resident of Ibokun, a community in Osun State, identified as Kehinde Ijebu, was found floating on Oyile River within the town on Wednesday. Though the circumstances behind the discovery are yet to be ascertained, the body of Kehinde was found a day after he suddenly went missing on Tuesday.
8. A police Inspector, Christian Gbaratee, was killed after gunmen ambushed a team of police officers on Tuesday along the Port Harcourt–Aba Road. A counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this via his X handle on Thursday. Quoting police sources, Makama stated that the incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. while the officers were returning from a trip in Rivers State.
9. Newly elected Pope Leo XIV will celebrate his first major Mass as the head of the Catholic Church on Friday in the Sistine Chapel, according to the Vatican. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters the Pope will also appear on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for the midday prayer on Sunday.
10. World leaders yesterday greeted Pope Leo XIV on his election as the 267th Pontiff. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, United States President Donald Trump and others expressed hope that the Pope’s tenure will usher in peace in the world.