PRESIDENT of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has clarified that the recent reduction in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, to N899.50 per litre at its loading gantry was primarily driven by the complex dynamics of market forces. He also said it is his responsibility to safeguard both the interests and the investments of the multibillion dollar company. The business tycoon made these statements during an interview in an Arise TV documentary posted on YouTube and obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday. He said, “The price reduction is a response to the market, let me just…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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PROFESSOR Saleh Usman, the executive Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, has approved the appointment of Alidu Shutti as the acting Secretary of the commission with immediate effect. The commission’s Assistant Director, Information and Publications Division, Fatima Sanda-Usara, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. She explained that the appointment of Shutti followed the voluntary retirement of the former Secretary of NAHCON, Dr Abdullahi Kontagora, on Dec. 6. Mrs Sanda-Usara stated that before his new appointment, Shutti was the Director, Inspectorate and Compliance in the commission since 2023. She said that Shutti would hold the acting…
THE Federal Government has earmarked over N780m for prosecuting terrorism-related cases, anti-money laundering initiatives, and other criminal matters in 2025. According to the 2025 Appropriation Bill, N530m has been allocated for the management of terrorism-related cases and issues, and N2bn for the purchase of vehicles for Senior Special Assistants. Additionally, N100.99m will be directed toward anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures, while N150m has been set aside for the prosecution of criminal and related matters. These allocations were listed under the Ministry of Justice. The ministry also plans to establish a National Crime Database, with N50m allocated for this initiative.…
NNPC Limited has reduced the pump price of petrol at its retail outlets in Abuja to N965 per litre from N1,030 per litre. This marks the second price cut by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company within two weeks, following a reduction from N1,060 to N1,030 per litre. Checks by this newspaper on Monday revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited effected the new price across its retail outlets in the capital city, to the delight of customers. The new amount is the second price drop in less than two weeks from N1,060 earlier this month. At its mega station…
NO fewer than 10 federal ministries and agencies under their purview got over N1tn each as appropriation in the 2025 budget, this newspaper analysis has shown. A breakdown of the proposed allocation, contained in the 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly, showed that the ministries include Police Affairs, Interior, Defence, Finance, Power, Works, and Budget and Economic planning. Others are the ministries of Niger Delta, Education, and Health. The proposed budget showed that the finance ministry got the highest allocation of N17.52tn. Majority of this is for salary payment. The amount is an increase of 87.78 per cent…
THE Federal Government has allocated a sum of N27bn for the entitlements of former presidents, vice-presidents, heads of state, chiefs of staff, retired heads of service, and professors in the 2025 fiscal year, investigations by Saturday PUNCH have revealed. Beneficiaries of this allocation include former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari, alongside ex-vice-presidents Atiku Abubakar, Namadi Sambo, and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Others expected to benefit are ex-military Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.) and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), as well as former military President, Ibrahim Babangida and retired Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe. President Bola…
THE Securities and Exchange Commission has directed all publicly listed companies to publish their financial statements on their official websites from January 2025. According to the Commission, the directive aims to ensure seamless public access to financial information, which is critical for making sound investment decisions. A circular issued on Friday emphasised the importance of transparency and timely disclosure. SEC warned that non-compliance with the directive would attract sanctions. The circular stated, “The Securities and Exchange Commission has observed that public companies file their periodic returns with the Commission and relevant securities exchanges without simultaneously publishing them on their websites.…
GARBA Shehu, a spokesperson for ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has addressed the ongoing buzz surrounding the seizure of a plot of land in Abuja supposedly owned by the ex-president. This newspaper had reported how the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, revoked 762 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) in the highbrow Maitama district of Abuja over non-payment of statutory fees. Ex-President Buhari’s Trust Foundation; former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen; Speaker of the house of representatives, Abbas Tajudeen; Secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), George Akume, his wife, Regina; and Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna are among those impacted by…
MINISTER of State For Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh today Thursday the 19th of December, identified the importance of enhanced performance with direct impact on the lives of the Nigerian people as critical to the implementation of the core mandate of agencies within the Industrial sector of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Speaking when the top management of NEPZA led by the Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Olufemi Ogunyemi paid him a visit in his office to deliver a progress report on the activities of the authority, the Minister of State for Industry, charged the management of NEPZA to…
THE House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts has delisted of the National Examinations Council (NECO), University of Ibadan (UI), and 22 departments and agencies from the 2025 Budget over unaccounted funds allocated to these agencies in 2024 and the previous years. The Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, made this known on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to him, lack of discipline on the part of institutions affects the efficient implementation of Nigeria’s budgetary allocations every year. Salam said the concerned agencies have consistently shunned summons by the green chamber to…
THE House of Representatives will, on December 31, 2024, present the sum of N704.91m to President Bola Tinubu for the use of vulnerable Nigerians owing to the economic hardship occasioned by the removal of the petrol subsidy. Recall that on July 18, the House resolved to slash 50 per cent of their salaries for six months to address the challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians following the adoption of a motion moved during a plenary session. Following a motion by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the House, in July, resolved to donate half of their salaries to meet the hunger needs of…
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the 2025 budget proposal presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing it as “unrealistic, opaque, and insincere.” PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement on Wednesday said the budget was anti-people, warning that its implementation would worsen insecurity, poverty, and despair across the nation. Tinubu unveiled the N49.7 trillion 2025 budget proposal during a joint session of the National Assembly, allocating N4.91 trillion for defence and security, N4.06 trillion for infrastructure, N2.48 trillion for health, and N3.52 trillion for education. But the opposition party criticised the budget presentation, alleging it was…
SENATE President Godswill Akpabio has asked President Bola Tinubu to caution “intransigent ministers” in his cabinet who won’t respond to invitations by the National Assembly. Akpabio said such ministers have no place in Tinubu’s cabinet because they are not democrats. The Senate President made this known on Wednesday when the President presented 2025 budget estimates of N47.9 tn before a joint session of the National Assembly. “Those who disregard invitation by the National Assembly are not democratic and therefore have no place in your government,” Akpabio told Tinubu before a full house of members of the Senate and the House…
THE Senate, on Tuesday, passed for first reading a bill to ban the use of foreign currencies for payments and transactions within Nigerian. The proposed legislation, aimed at ensuring all payments, including salaries and transactions, are conducted in naira, seeks to eliminate discriminatory practices and strengthen confidence in the local currency. This includes making it mandatory for exports to be paid for in naira. The bill was titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, No. 7, to Prohibit the Use of Foreign Currencies for Remuneration and for Other Related Matters.” It was…
THERE is confusion at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as embattled chairman, Danladi Umar and the newly appointed chairman, Mainasara Kogo, are laying claim to its chairmanship. Inquiries by this newspaper indicate that both persons have officially visited and held discussions with staff of the tribunal without any clear directive on who is in charge. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on July 13 appointed Kogo as the new chairman of CCT the same day he announced Omolola Oloworaran as the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Although the staff complained about the lull in the work of the…
Inaugurates Committee To Engage AGF, National Assembly, Information Ministry CONCERNED about plethora of obnoxious and anti-media laws in the Nigeria’s legal book, the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has inaugurated a five-man committee to work closely with the office of Minister of Information and National Orientation, National Assembly, the Attorney-General of the Federation/Minister of Justice, and other stakeholders – aimed at starting a process of amending the laws or outrightly repealing them. The committee members include, a pro-media rights activist and member of NGE, Richard Akinnola; a lawyer/former Editor of Punch Newspaper, Gbemiga Ogunleye; former Editor-In-Chief/Managing Director of The Guardian,…
FORMER Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, has called on the Federal Government to go back to the drawing board in governing the masses. Shekarau, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria, said the recent #EndBadGovernance protest was a clear message to President Bola Tinubu’s administration. “The last protests on the end of bad governance is a clear message. The agitation was not a regional, state affair. It was a national matter. I think it’s a very clear message to the President and the Federal Government. “Nigerians are saying ‘please go back to the…
THE Federal Government says it is working towards procuring essential medicines such as diabetets and hypertension drugs to provide succour for rising cost of medicines and healthcare products. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja during the commemoration of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day. Pate said that the three-year Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain was unveiled a year ago to save lives, reduce physical and financial pain, and produce health for all Nigerians. “In the medium and long term, the local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products…
THE National Economic Council (NEC) has received position reports on the establishment of State police from the 36 state governors. The NEC meeting was chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima and attended by state governors, deputy governors, ministers and some presidential aides. Briefing State House Correspondents shortly after the meeting which lasted for over 4 hours, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State said the state governors indicated an overwhelming support for the establishment of state police because of the security challenges bedeviling their states. However, he said the NEC postponed deliberation on the matter to January 2024. “Virtually every state…
TROUBLE brewing for FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike as the Senate on Thursday sought an investigation into the recent demolitions in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and has set up an investigative committee to look into the matter. News Point Nigeria reports that the committee will also invite Wike, to appear before it to explain the reasons behind the demolitions, which have left many residents without homes. The motion, which was moved by Senator Ireti Kingibe of the FCT Senatorial District, expressed concern over the illegal demolition of structures in the nation’s capital and called for an immediate stop to further…