Author: Hamza Rufai

THE trial over the alleged defamation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, commenced on Wednesday with the Department of State Services (DSS) opening its case and calling its first witness. News Point Nigeria reports that testifying before the Federal High Court, a DSS operative, Cyril Nosike, told the court that a social media post made by Sowore describing President Tinubu as a “criminal” generated public tension and posed a threat to national security. Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), Nosike said that on August 26, 2025, while…

THE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has declared that political appointments after the 2027 general elections will be reserved strictly for party loyalists, insisting that governance is inseparable from politics and that technocrats who are unwilling to engage in party mobilisation should not expect appointments. News Point Nigeria reports that Nentawe made the declaration on Tuesday night in Abuja at an event titled “Renewed Hope Promise Kept 2027: Meet and Greet North-West Mobilisation,” organised by the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo. A video clip of the APC chairman’s remarks went viral on…

THE 16th Emir of Kano, Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II, on Tuesday, officially commenced lectures at Northwest University, Kano, as a 200 Level Law student. News Point Nigeria reports that Sanusi II joined his classmates for early morning lectures, dressed in a black long gown with a white head tie. He sat comfortably at the back of the class in a three-seater during the session. The Emir’s first lecture came after he completed all registration procedures in line with the university’s requirements. The institution had extended the offer of admission to Sanusi II last week, recognizing his extensive experience in governance,…

AFTER passing a vote of no confidence in the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria,  Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, all the NAHCON eleven permanent and non-commissioners, have formally written to President Bola Tinubu, demanding the sack of Pakistan, saying allowing him to say in office for one more day would lead to the collapse of 2026 Hajj operation. News Point Nigeria reports that the eleven commissioners disclosed  this in a letter dated 19 January 2026, signed by all the commissioners, and addressed to President Tinubu. In the letter obtained by this newspaper, the commissioners unanimously said,…

VICE President Kashim Shettima is leading Nigeria’s delegation to the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. News Point Nigeria reports that the summit will be held from January 19 to 23, 2026. His arrival in Switzerland, to attend the forum, which brings together global political and business leaders, followed his visit to Conakry, Guinea, on Friday, where he represented President Bola Tinubu at the inauguration of President Mamadi Doumbouya. According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, the VP, on arrival in Switzerland, was received by the Minister of Foreign…

THE House of Representatives is considering a constitutional amendment bill seeking to prohibit the public parade of suspects by the police and other law enforcement agencies. News Point Nigeria reports that this follows the widespread condemnation the practice has witnessed from human rights groups, the judiciary and civil society organisations in the country for decades. The proposal, which forms part of the recommendations adopted by the House Committee on Constitution Review chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, is expected to be debated when the National Assembly resumes from the Christmas and New Year recess. At the centre of the…

BUDGETARY personnel allocations to several federal universities have recorded a sharp increase following the Federal Government’s approval of a 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff and the introduction of new and enhanced allowance packages. An analysis of the Federal Government’s 2026 budget estimates by News Point Nigeria shows that personnel cost allocations to the top 20 federal universities rose from ₦438.85 billion in 2025 to ₦533.1 billion in 2026, representing an increase of ₦94.25 billion, or about 22 per cent within one fiscal year. The surge in personnel spending follows a landmark agreement reached on Wednesday between the…

VICE President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at President Mamadi Doumbouya’s inauguration in Guinea-Conakry. The Vice President is also billed to attend the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, after his participation in the presidential inauguration in that West African country. This was disclosed by Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media and Communications, Office of The Vice President in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Friday. The Presidential aide said the Vice President will represent President Tinubu at the inauguration of President…

THE United States plans to spend N587 billion ($413.046m) on counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria and other African countries in 2026 amid worsening security conditions across West Africa. The allocation is contained in the US National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026, obtained by News Point Nigeria on Friday. The funds were approved under Title XLIII – Operation and Maintenance. The security budget for the US Africa Command comes against the backdrop of the Christmas Day attacks on terrorists’ hideouts in Sokoto State by the Donald Trump administration. On Tuesday, AFRICOM delivered a consignment of military equipment to Nigerian security…

A FORMER member of the APC National Working Committee, legal scholar and public affairs analyst, Dr. Umar D. Duhu, has dismissed as baseless and destabilising recent speculation suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may replace Vice President Kashim Shettima with the Minister of Defence and former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as his running mate ahead of the 2027 general elections. In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria titled “A Call to Reason: Quashing Baseless Speculations and Divisive Narratives,” Duhu described the claims as a dangerous distraction capable of inflaming political tensions and undermining Nigeria’s democratic stability.…

FORMER Kano State Governor and National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said he has not ruled out joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), but stressed that any such move must be preceded by firm assurances on the future of the Kano State government and the welfare of his political supporters. News Point Nigeria reports that Kwankwaso made the remarks on Wednesday at his Miller Road residence in Kano during a meeting with leaders and supporters from Rano and Dawakin Tofa Local Government Areas, alongside members of various Kwankwasiyya groups who gathered to…

VICE PRESIDENT Kashim Shettima, has commended Hadiza Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head, Central Delivery Coordination Unit, for her unique contributions to national development. News Point Nigeria reports that Shettima gave the commendation in Abuja on Tuesday during a colloquium organised to commemorate the 50th birthday of Hadiza Usman. The Vice-President described her as a mirror not only for the northern Nigerian girl, but for the nation itself. Shettima said Usman’s earned her influence in Nigeria’s public service, continually shaping the country’s national direction through “a rare combination of gifts: grace, strengthened by grit;…

THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has dismissed claims that the ongoing prosecution of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, is driven by personal animosity or political considerations, insisting that the case was inherited upon his assumption of office. Olukoyede made the clarification on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television monitored by News Point Nigeria, where he addressed growing public speculation over the EFCC’s decision to arraign the former justice minister on corruption-related charges. According to the EFCC chairman, investigations into Malami’s alleged financial impropriety were initiated…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the agency is not charging some alleged corrupt high-profile persons to court yet because it takes time to gather evidence in such cases. EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyede said arraigning people involved in high-profile cases requires painstaking investigation, thus the perceived delay in prosecuting persons involved in public corruption. Olukoyede said this in an interview with Channels Television aired on Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to the EFCC, the length of time some cases take before reaching the courts does not indicate that the anti-graft agency is inactive. “In 48…

AUTHORITIES in Jersey, a British Crown Dependency in the Channel Islands between the United Kingdom and France are set to return more than $9.5 million (£7 million) to the Nigerian government. The funds will be funneled into supporting infrastructure projects in the West African country. This repatriation followed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December between the Attorney General for Jersey Mark Temple KC and the Federal Government. The MoU is built on two past deals between Nigeria and Jersey involving the return of over $300m which were held in a bank account in the island. The Attorney General of…

THE Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has filed a formal petition with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing a former Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, of alleged corruption and abuse of office. News Point Nigeria reports that the petition, submitted through Dangote’s legal team and signed by his lead counsel, Dr. O. J. Onoja, SAN, was lodged at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja following the withdrawal of a similar complaint earlier filed with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Sources familiar with…

BANKS and telecommunications operators in Nigeria have been handed a March 1, 2026, deadline to fully implement a comprehensive refund framework aimed at ending persistent consumer complaints over failed airtime and data transactions. News Point Nigeria reports that the new directive follows the completion of a joint regulatory framework developed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address situations where subscribers are debited for airtime or data purchases without receiving the corresponding service. The framework targets failures arising from network outages, system malfunctions, human input errors, and other breakdowns across the financial and…

Togo, Niger Republic, and Benin owe Nigeria $17.8m, an equivalent of over N25bn at the current exchange rate, for electricity supplied under bilateral arrangements, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said. In its Third Quarter 2025 report obtained by News Point Nigeria, NERC disclosed that the three international customers were invoiced a total of $18.69m by the Market Operator for electricity supplied during the period, but they remitted only $7.125m, leaving an outstanding balance of $11.56m. Similarly, the international bilateral customers had legacy invoices of $14.7m, out of which they paid $7.84m, leaving a balance of $6.23m. This newspaper reports…

THE African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Federal Government over Nigeria’s silence following recent developments in Venezuela, describing the lack of an official position as embarrassing and unworthy of the country’s status as a leading African nation. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, expressed the party’s concerns during an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television on Tuesday monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to Abdullahi, Nigeria has lost its standing as a principled voice in Africa and West Africa under the current administration, at a time when the crisis in Venezuela represents a defining moment with far-reaching…

FORMER Minister of Defence and immediate past Governor of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has firmly denied reports suggesting that he is planning to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing the claims as false, baseless and politically motivated. Badaru’s denial comes amid growing speculation triggered by internal disagreements within the APC in Jigawa State, particularly an ongoing rift between him and the incumbent governor, Umar Namadi. The tensions have reportedly fuelled rumours of possible defections by aggrieved party stakeholders ahead of future political realignments in the state. Investigations by this newspaper revealed…