Author: Hamza Rufai

A NIGERIAN Navy personnel, Abdul Rasheed Muhammad, has been arrested for the murder of Aminu, the son of former Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral I. I. Ibrahim (retd). Speaking while parading the suspect on Wednesday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, said Muhammad killed Aminu and stole his car two weeks ago. Igweh confirmed that the car had been recovered. He said, “About two weeks ago, Aminu Ibrahim, the son of Vice Admiral I. I. Ibrahim (retd), a former Chief of Naval Staff, was robbed and killed in the Maitama area of Abuja, and…

MANY filling stations operated by independent oil marketers have now fixed the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at between N900 and N1,100/litre. Owners of these stations seem not to care about the cost of the product at retail outlets operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. Petrol prices at NNPC stations range from N568 to N617/litre. This often leads to queues at the stations. As Nigerians raise concerns about the high cost of the commodity by independent petrol dealers, the Federal Government has also vowed to shut down filling stations that will be caught dispensing PMS…

COMMISSIONER of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, Benneth Igweh, has expressed his displeasure over the killing of two his operatives during a procession by members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria popularly known as Shiites. Igweh also described as “provocative” the actions of the group by attacking security operatives without sparing two other policewomen who were critically injured during the melee that ensued in the nation’s capital, Abuja, on Sunday. This newspaper had reported that at least a trader was shot dead, while two police officers were killed in the clash between police and the group at popular…

TWO police officers have been killed and three others are unconscious following a clash between police operatives and members of the proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly known as the Shiites in the Wuse area of Abuja. Spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, confirmed the attack which happened on Sunday, describing the attack as unprovoked while accusing the group of destroying three police patrol vehicles. According to Adeh, the IMN members attacked some personnel of the Nigeria Police Force attached to the FCT command at Wuse Junction by a traffic light. “The FCT police command wishes to confirm…

THE leadership of the National Assembly has approved the appointment of Bashir Abubakar as the new Chief Public Complaint Commissioner of the Federation under provisions of the law establishing the Public Complaint Commission. The National Assembly also approved the appointment of 37 other federal commissioners for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. This was contained in a statement signed by the Secretary, Research and Information, Dr Barde Umoru on behalf of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Sani Magaji Tambawal. He said the appointment is in compliance with section 2(1) of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) Establishment Act.…

THE Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the release of 20 medical students and others abducted in Benue State. News Point Nigeria had earlier reported how the rescue operation was coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. Security agencies – the police, DSS and military personnel and equipment were involved in the operation, with the support of the Benue State government. A statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi on Saturday, said the victims who were held in the Ntunkon forest, ADO Local Government Area of Benue state, were rescued on Friday by the…

THREE interim Local Government Chairmen have been taken into custody of the Kano Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) over alleged N660 million water contract scam. Musa Garba Kwankwaso, nephew of the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, was also taken into custody but released on bail around 9pm, on Thursday. Sources said he was instructed to return to the commission’s office on Monday. The three local government administrators who are under probe by investigators have confessed to have misappropriated monies into their private accounts, according to sources. They are that of Kiru Local Government Area, Abdulaziz Sulaiman,…

THE Federal Government has increased the fees for the procurement of Nigerian Passport with effect from the 1st of September 2024. A statement by the spokesman of the Nigeria Immigration Service, DCI Kenneth Udo, says the increment is a part of the government’s efforts to maintain the quality and integrity of the Nigerian Standard Passport. He said that based on the review, a 32-page Passport booklet with 5-year validity previously charged at Thirty-five Thousand Naira (N35,000.00) will now be Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000.00) only; while a 64-page Passport booklet with 10-year validity which was Seventy Thousand Naira (N70,000.00) will be…

THE 16th Fulani Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has completed a doctorate in Islamic Law at the University of London, United Kingdom. In a heartwarming video, Sanusi could be seen getting emotional after he was told that his thesis was approved without any correction. The video showed the monarch being congratulated in a meeting held virtually. The thesis was on: “Codification of Islamic Family Law as an Instrument of Social Reform: A Case Study of the Emirate of Kano and Comparison with the Kingdom of Morocco.” Sanusi started the PhD programme after he was deposed by the then governor of Kano, Abdullahi …

A GROUP of prominent political leaders from the North emerged yesterday, named the League of Northern Democrats (LND), which said it would convene a strategic summit to revive the region’s political and economic place in Nigeria. The group, which declared its intention to unite and reposition the North as a leading force in Nigeria’s political landscape, further revealed that its general concern is the development of Northern Nigeria, stressing that it does not represent the interest of anybody. The 226-member group, led by former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, as interim chairman, Umar Ardo, as convener, and Hon.…

THE Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Ogun State, Barrister ‘Niyi Ijalaye is dead. The Ogun REC slumped and died in Abuja on Monday evening after a meeting of RECs at the Commission’s headquarters. The cause of his death is yet unknown. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that the former Resident Electoral Commissioner had returned to his hotel room after the meeting before the incident happened. It was further disclosed that the Ondo-born administrator who was lively throughout the commission’s meeting, retired to a Hotel in the Federal Capital Territory before his…

THE National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has accredited 17 academic programmes at Federal Polytechnic Kabo across various schools within the institution. This benchmark, achieved on Friday, August 16, 2024, marks a significant step in the Polytechnic’s commitment to providing quality technical and vocational education. The accreditation covers a broad range of disciplines across four major schools within the Polytechnic, including the School of Engineering, which now offers National Diplomas (ND) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering Technology, and Electrical/Electronic Engineering. Programmes accredited by the NBTE in the School of Health Sciences include ND in Public Health Technology, Science Laboratory Technology,…

THE sales of crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in local currency will commence on October 1, 2024, according to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun Edun made this announcement during a meeting with the Implementation Committee on Monday in Abuja. The Finance Ministry in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) handle, said the meeting was to review progress of the transition to crude oil sales in naira. The post stated that key roles were outlined for stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Central Bank…

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has announced a net profit of N3.297 trillion for the financial year ending December 2023, marking a 28% increase from the N2.548 trillion profit recorded in 2022. A statement by Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Monday noted that this achievement, the highest in the company’s 46-year history, was disclosed during a world press conference at the NNPC Towers in Abuja. The statement said, “The NNPC Limited has released its 2023 Audited Financial Statement (AFS), declaring a net profit of N3.297 trillion at the close of the financial year which ended in December…

TROOPS of the Nigerian Army have killed three Boko Haram terrorists, including a commander, Abu Rajab, during a raid in Sambisa Forest in Borno State. The military operation conducted in collaboration with the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) targeted a terrorist camp in the Bula Daloje, Bama Local government area of the state. Military sources confirmed the killing, saying the troops engaged the terrorists in a heavy gun battle, killed three of them and forced others to flee. One of the sources said the troops, on August 17, launched an offensive operation against a terrorist enclave in Bula Daloye in…

THE Kwara State Police Command has said that it has rescued 20 victims abducted on Osi/Obbo-Aiyegunle road in Ekiti Local Government Area of the state on Friday. The Police, in a statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, on Saturday, said the rescue operation was in collaboration with local vigilantes in the state. She stated that the security agencies rescued all the victims alive while three of them who were injured were taken to the hospital for treatment. This newspaper reports that the kidnapped victims, who were travelling in three different vehicles from Kwara to Kogi state…

THE queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, continued on Friday in Abuja, Niger, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and many other states as the Federal Government threatened to withdraw the operating licences of oil marketers involved in PMS hoarding. On Friday, long queues of vehicles were observed at various fuel stations across the Federal Capital Territory, with many stations closed due to a lack of supply. In the Kado axis of Abuja Municipal Area Council, some fuel stations, including AA Rano, were selling petrol at N849/litre, while others remained shut. The petrol scarcity led to frustration among motorists who spent several…

THE Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of a cash sum of $2,045m linked to the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele. Justice Akintayo Aluko also ordered the interim forfeiture of seven landed properties linked to the suspended CBN Governor. The lands are listed as: “two fully detached duplexes of identical structures, lying being and situated at No. 17b Hakeem Odumosu Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos; an undeveloped/bare land, measuring 1919.592sqm with Survey Plan No. DS/LS/340 LYING, being and situate at Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (Formerly Queens Drive), Ikoyi, Lagos; a bungalow…

THE leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the explanations given by the Nigeria Police Force on the reason its personnel ransacked the NLC national headquarters in Abuja, calling for an unreserved apology from the police. Police authorities had said it did not invade the NLC secretariat but only traced a suspected criminal to the building which coincidentally houses the organisation’s office. But addressing journalists at the NLC Secretariat in Abuja, the Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs, Benson Upah, described the police allegations of tracing a suspected international criminal to the building as laughable. The NLC also…

THE Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Jalal Arabi, and the commission’s secretary, Abdullahi Kontagora, are currently in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the alleged mismanagement of the N90bn 2024 Hajj subsidy. In a document sighted by our correspondent on Wednesday, the anti-graft agency said, “A total of SR314,098 was recovered,” from the NAHCON chairman and other ranking officials. The EFCC said its investigation revealed that from the N90bn Hajj subsidy, Arabi, fraudulently overpaid himself and others the necessary operational cost. Also according to the document, the approved 2024 Hajj operational cost…