Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know this Wednesday morning

<p>Good morning&excl; Here is today’s summary from <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;Openlife&period;ng"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;993366&semi;">Nigerian Newspapers<&sol;span><&sol;a>&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>1&period; Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State says Nigeria is at &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;critical crossroads” following what he called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;multiple quagmires&period;” El-Rufai said this while receiving former Lagos Governor&comma; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu&comma; who was in the State&comma; on a condolence visit over the bandits’ attack on a Kaduna-bound train&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>2&period; The Peoples Democratic Party &lpar;PDP&rpar; has thrown its presidential ticket for the 2023 election open&comma; abandoning zoning&comma; which has generated heated controversy in recent times&period; Stakeholders of the party had taken different positions on zoning&comma; with Iyioricha Ayu&comma; National Chairman of the party&comma; saying zoning had come to stay&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>3&period; Reports emerged yesterday that Vice President&comma; Yemi Osinbajo will formally announce his intention to join the battle for the sole presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress&comma; APC&comma; on Thursday&period; However&comma; a government source countered the claims&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>4&period; The Independent National Electoral Commission &lpar;INEC&rpar; has said any party that violates the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 will not have its candidates on the ballot for the 2023 general elections&period; National Commissioner and Chairman&comma; Information and Voter Education Committee of the commission&comma; Festus Okoye&comma; said this on Tuesday in a statement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>5&period; A Kano State High Court sitting at Audu Bako has sentenced a self-confessed atheist&comma; Mubarak Bala&comma; to 45 years imprisonment for blasphemy&period; Bala&comma; who is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria&comma; pleaded guilty to committing blasphemy against Allah &lpar;SWT&rpar; and Prophet Muhammad &lpar;SAW&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>6&period; A deacon at the Evangelical Church Winning All&comma; Onikoko&comma; Abeokuta&comma; Ogun State&comma; Francis Ogunnusi&comma; has died while preaching in the church on Sunday&period; It was gathered that Ogunnusi was on the pulpit on Sunday preaching against the get-rich-quick syndrome that had become the order of the day in different parts of the country&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>7&period; Terrorists have killed 17 soldiers in an attack at a military base in Polwire&comma; Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State&period; A source stated that 40 wounded soldiers were taken to the 44 Army Reference Hospital facility&comma; including 17 of them &lpar;soldiers&rpar; confirmed to have been killed by the terrorists&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>8&period; Gunmen yesterday killed two security men at St&period; Joseph’s Cathedral Church in Ekwulobia&comma; Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State&period; It was gathered that they were killed for attending the prayer session declared by the State government on Monday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>9&period; A Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court&comma; Ikeja&comma; yesterday&comma; sentenced a man&comma; Collins Okechukwu&comma; to life imprisonment for raping and robbing a 25-year-old student at the University of Lagos&comma; Akoka&period; Delivering judgement&comma; Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution proved the charges of rape and robbery against Okechukwu beyond reasonable doubt&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>10&period; Bola Tinubu has lamented the spate of banditry and terrorism being witnessed in the country&comma; saying Nigeria is bleeding&period; Tinubu&comma; who paid a condolence visit to Governor Nasir El-Rufai&comma; on Tuesday&comma; donated M50 million to victims of the attack&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;