FORMER National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has formally defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), citing neglect by his former party during his years of political and personal travails. News Point Nigeria reports that Metuh announced his defection on Sunday during a thanksgiving service in Abuja to commemorate his 60th birthday, marking his return to active partisan politics after publicly withdrawing from the political scene three years ago. The event drew a high-powered delegation of political heavyweights from across party lines, including the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma; former President…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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KANO State has come under yet another deadly attack as armed bandits stormed Yankamaye village in Tsanyawa Local Government Area, killing an elderly woman and abducting several residents in a renewed wave of violence gripping parts of the North-West. News Point Nigeria reports that the attack, which occurred late Saturday as villagers prepared to retire for the night, is the latest in a series of incursions by criminal gangs fleeing intensified military operations in neighbouring states and allegedly emboldened by controversial peace deals across the region. According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen rode into the area on motorcycles, parking them at…
FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has raised questions about the recent coup in Guinea-Bissau, saying that it was strange that the ousted president, Umaro Embalo, announced the military takeover. News Point Nigeria reports that according to him, what happened in the West African country was a “ceremonial” coup. “What happened in Guinea-Bissau, I wouldn’t call it a coup. It was not a coup. For want of a better word, I would say maybe because it was a ceremonial coup, because it is the president, President Embalo, who announced the coup before, later, the military man came up to address the world…
THE Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Friday, reserved judgement in the appeal and cross appeal filed by Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio. News Point Nigeria reports that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan is challenging a lower court’s decision in her suit seeking to stop the Senate’s investigation of her alleged misconduct. A three-member panel of justices of the appellate court reserved the judgment after counsel for the parties adopted their processes and argued their case for and against the appeals. The senate president had approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the Federal High Court judgment that invalidated the…
THE Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by Tigran Gambaryan, former Binance Head of Financial Crime Compliance in Nigeria, against the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). News Point Nigeria reports that Gambaryan, through his lawyer, had sued the NSA and EFCC over alleged unlawful and prolonged detention. Delivering Judgement, Justice Mohammed Umar, held that the Binance agent’s fundamental rights enforcement suit constituted an abuse of court process. Justice Umar held that the NSA had acted within his mandate under the law and that no court had…
MARICEL Romero Cantillo has been reappointed as the Honorary Consul of Colombia to Nigeria, extending her tenure for another four years. Her reappointment reinforces Colombia’s confidence in her diplomatic work and acknowledges her growing role in strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. News Point Nigeria reorts that the announcement comes just months after the historic visit of Colombia’s Vice President to Nigeria—a visit that focused on deepening cooperation in areas such as trade, culture, education, and people-to-people exchange. During that visit, both nations committed to expanding engagement across multiple sectors, opening new doors for collaboration between Latin America and…
THE Senate has passed a resolution classifying kidnapping as an act of terrorism, stipulating that an amendment to the Terrorism Act be made to impose the maximum penalty of death. News Point Nigeria reports that the resolution was made during plenary on Wednesday. Under the new law, according to the upper legislative arm, once a kidnapping conviction is established, the death penalty must be applied. Nigeria suffers from a persistent security crisis fuelled by attacks and violence by “bandit” gangs that raid villages, kill people, and kidnap for ransom. In response to recent kidnappings and attacks by terrorists, President Bola…
FORMER Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, on Wednesday said bandits were threatening and planning to abduct members of the National Assembly. News Point Nigeria reports that Idris stated this during the resumption of debate on national security in the lower chamber, calling on President Bola Tinubu to review his directive on the withdrawal of police operatives attached to Very Important Personalities (VIPs). Tinubu had on Sunday ordered the withdrawal of police officers at a security meeting in Abuja, attended by Service Chiefs and the Director-General of the Department of State Services. The President directed the police…
THE Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the Federal Government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations. News Point Nigeria reports that the Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation with the theme: “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services”. According to him, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by…
THE alleged terrorist negotiator, Mr Tukur Mamu, has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit challenging his designation as a “terrorist” by the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), while standing trial. News Point Nigeria reports that Mamu’s counsel, Johnson Usman, SAN, told Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja that the AGF’s action contravened Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution which presumes a defendant innocent until proven guilty by the court. Usman told the court that the printout of publications in the media where his client was designated as a terrorist had been attached to their application as…
THE House of Representatives is holding a special plenary session on national security. A delegation of St Kitts and Nevis, led by the Speaker of its parliament, Lanein Blanchette, as well as another group from the United States of America Embassy, were admitted into the chamber for the plenary. The House is expected to receive a consolidated Internal Assessment prepared by relevant committees, including security incidents, trends, oversight findings, and implementation of previous resolutions, as well as evidence-based presentations by committees on defence, national security and intelligence, police affairs, human rights, interior, foreign affairs, women affairs, youth development, and emergency…
THE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Professor Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, is allegedly involved in a fresh procurement fraud over licensed tour operators’ Masha’ir contracts for 2026 Hajj. Investigations by this newspaper-thorough interviews and analysis of official documents have shown that the Hajj commission had signed a multi-billion naira Masha’ir contract with a Saudi company for Nigerian licenced tour operators pilgrims without recourse to the procurement and other extant regulations. A statement released and signed by the Technical Assistant (Media) of NAHCON chairman, Ahmed Muazu, said the agreement was signed by NAHCON Chairman/CEO,…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu says no national priority weighs more heavily on his mind than Nigeria’s escalating security crisis, especially the violence ravaging large parts of the North. News Point Nigeria reports that the president stated this on Saturday in Kaduna at the 25th Anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the launch of its Endowment Fund. Tinubu was represented at the event by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas. Tinubu described insecurity as the most troubling threat confronting the country, stressing that Nigeria cannot move toward economic recovery or social stability unless peace is…
SENATOR Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, has clarified why he withdrew from the Senate Committee on Local Content’s investigation into former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, over an alleged $14.8 million diversion belonging to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). News Point Nigeria reports that in a detailed statement posted on his official Meta page on Saturday, the former governor said he recused himself on grounds that the probe was “selective” and lacked the broad-spectrum inquiry necessary to ensure fairness, transparency, and credibility. Sylva was declared wanted by the Economic…
THE National Universities Commission (NUC) has banned universities in Nigeria from conferring honorary doctorate awards to serving public officials, including politicians and appointed office holders. News Point Nigeria reports tThe Commission has also uncovered 32 institutions operating as honorary doctorate degree mills, including 10 unaccredited foreign universities, 4 unlicensed local universities. Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, announced this in Abuja on Friday while receiving a report from a committee investigating the award and public use/misuse of honorary doctorate degrees by recipients in Nigeria. Ribadu vowed that the Commission will begin a crackdown on illegal universities awarding fake…
SIXTEEN Prospective Corps Members (PCMs) have tragically lost their lives in a road accident while travelling to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Gombe State. News Point Nigeria reports that two other students from the same trip survived, but both remained in critical condition at a hospital. The victims were reportedly all graduates of Adeyemi Federal University of Education (AFUED) in Ondo State. They were travelling in an 18‑seater bus when the crash occurred. Eyewitnesses said the accident was catastrophic, leaving two survirors fatally wounded. Emergency responders recovered the bodies and evacuated the injured to a local…
THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday issued a blistering rebuke of factional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, after the latter called on U.S. President Donald Trump and other Western nations to intervene in Nigeria’s political affairs. News Point Nigeria reports that Wike’s outburst came on the same day police authorities sealed the national headquarters of the PDP at Wadata Plaza, Abuja, amid an escalating leadership crisis that has fractured the opposition party and triggered unrest among supporters. Turaki had on Tuesday accused the Federal Government of endangering Nigeria’s democracy and raised…
THE lawmaker representing Kebbi South, Senator Garba Maidoki, is optimistic of an early return for schoolgirls abducted in the State. Maidoki spoke on Wednesday when he was featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, days after gunmen abducted about 25 students from the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State. “We have a fair idea where the girls are, and we are sure they have not moved outside the Kebbi South Senatorial District,” Maidoki said on the current affairs show. “There is high hope that the girls will return home in one or two…
THE House of Representatives has fixed Thursday for a full-day national security debate as killings, mass abductions and violent attacks continue to spread across the country. News Point Nigeria reports that Speaker Abbas Tajudeen announced the plan at plenary on Tuesday, saying the deteriorating security situation requires urgent and collective action from lawmakers and security agencies. The decision comes amid fresh global attention on Nigeria’s security crisis following recent comments by United States President Donald Trump, who claimed “record numbers of Christians” were being killed in the country. Trump further warned that the U.S. “would not allow it to continue,”…
KABIRU Turaki on Tuesday assumed office as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His resumption came after a standoff at the party’s Wadata Secretariat in Abuja, News Point Nigeria reports. “For the past seven hours, Nigerians are living witnesses to the struggle we’ve been engaged in with those renegade members of our party that were expelled at our national convention in Ibadan,” Turaki said while addressing pressmen. “They came here with armed thugs that we did predict would disrupt our meetings, but God so kind, we were able to contain them effectively.” He said, “Now, we have…