Top news items in major Nigerian media outlets

The following are highlights of leading Nigerian media outlets on Friday.

-- Nigeria posted a current account deficit of 15.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 compared with a surplus of 1.3 billion dollars it recorded in the previous year. It represents the highest in 27 years. (The Guardian)

-- The Nigerian Army has said that it will investigate the allegation that there was a plot by the service to overthrow the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Thursday that the Army would investigate the claim in order to unravel the motive behind the claim. (The Punch)

-- There was a fracas between soldiers and policemen on Thursday at the Government House in Maiduguri over rice being distributed to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

One policeman and scores of civilians awaiting their rice allocations were injured. (Daily Trust)

-- A member of the House of Representatives, Samuel Ikon, who was accused of illegally soliciting for prostitutes, alongside two other lawmakers while in the United States, has written to the US ambassador in Nigeria, James Entwistle, and threatened to seek legal redress in competent courts of law both in Nigeria and the US.

He issued the threat in a letter addressed to the ambassador, explaining that he was ill during the trip and could not have had sex due to ill-health. (Vanguard) Endit