Author: Hamza Rufai

THE Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, has faulted the ‘disbursement’ of N585,189,500.00 into a personal account. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, in a viral document personally signed by her and directed to the Office of the AGF, instructed the payment of the funds to one Oniyelu Bridget Mojisola. The document also showed that the payment of the N585.189 million grant, meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun and Lagos states, was made into Oniyelu’s account. But reacting to the leaked document, Rasheed Zubair, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity…

KADUNA State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has confirmed the bandits attack on three communities in Kaura Local Government Area of the state in which seven locals were killed and 58 abducted. But the police in the state denied that such attack occurred in Southern Kaduna. The command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, said the command had made several contacts in the said affected communities but there was no confirmation of the incident. “It is not true, there was nothing like that because we have made contacts in the affected communities, there was nothing like that,” he said. This…

TWO policemen have sustained bullet injuries, while seven family members have been abducted as gunmen suspected to be bandits intensify attacks on Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This newspaper gathered that a middle-aged man, simply identified as Alhaji, who led policemen to foil the kidnapping of the seven family members, was shot dead by the bandits. Our reporter had reported that in recent days, gunmen had been been invading villages under Bwari Area Council, abducting and killing residents. A resident of Bwari, Isaiah Samuel, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on Friday, said the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of new Executive Directors in two (2) agencies under the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. This was disclosed in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, Thursday. The appointees are as follows: Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA): (A) Ms. Vivian C. Richard Edet — Executive Director, Finance & Administration (NPA) (B) Engr. Olalekan Badmus — Executive Director, Marine & Operations (NPA) (C) Engr. Ibrahim Abba Umar — Executive Director, Engineering & Technical Services (NPA) Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) (D) Mr. Jibril Abba…

THE Nigerian Meteorological Agency has sounded a note of caution to asthma patients and people with respiratory issues as well as airline operators over the impending hazy weather. A report put out on Tuesday by the meteorological agency also predicted sunny and hazy weather for the North and North Central states of the country beginning from Wednesday, January 3, 2024. “Individuals with asthma and other respiratory issues are advised to be cautious of the weather conditions”, the report said. “Airline operators are advised to get updated weather reports from NiMet for effective planning in their operations.” NiMet also warned about…

THE Federal Government has released a list of where Nigerians can avail themselves of a 50 per cent discount on transport fares for return trips during the festive season. This was announced by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, on his X account on Friday. He wrote, “YULETIDE SUBSIDY: The Federal Government has listed more motor parks where Nigerians can enjoy 50% rebate on transport fare for return trips during the festive season. 1. Lagos – Join from Oshodi Terminal 3 2. Abuja – Join from Jabi Park 3. Onitsha – Join from…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved the retirement of four directors in the commission. Mr Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee of the commission, said this on Wednesday in Abuja in a statement. The development follows the implementation of the eight-year tenure policy for directors by the federal government. “Following the Federal Government Circular HSCF/SPSO/268/T3/2/37 issued on 27 July 2023, the commission has approved the implementation of a policy mandating all Directors with eight years or more of service to retire from the public sector. “As per this directive, four directors of the…

THE Minister Of Defence,  Muhammad Badaru Abubakar has sent a condolence message to the Emir of Kano Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, Government and people of Kano state and Na’abba family over the death of former number four citizen, former speaker House of Representatives Ghali Umar Na’abba. In a personal condolence message signed by the minister himself, Badaru described the former speaker as, prudent, sincere and moderate politician who stands on the protection of rules of law during his time as the speaker of the House of Reps, whose death is a great loss not only to his family and the…

THE Federal Government has deployed 45 more aircraft, helicopters, and other platforms to the Nigerian Air Force in the last six months. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Bala Abubakar, disclosed this in Katsina State on Tuesday. Abubakar’s visit to the North-Western was to celebrate Christmas as well as have a lunch with frontline troops of Air Component Operation Hadarin Daji and 213 Forward Operating Base in the state that has been hit by bandits activities. In his message, the air chief identified the military aircraft as four-diamond, 62 multipurpose aircraft, two T129 attack helicopters, and one Beachcraft…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu and the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya have strongly condemned the heinous and brutal attacks in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas of Plateau State, which resulted in the tragic loss of many lives. President Tinubu directs security agencies to immediately move in, scour every stretch of the zone, and apprehend the culprits. The President also directs immediate mobilization of relief resources for surviving victims of the primitive and cruel attacks as well as medical treatment for the wounded. While condoling with the government and the people of…

A FORMER governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been released from Kuje Correctional Centre after his lawyers perfected his bail conditions. His lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mathew Burkaa, confirmed this to Channels Television. Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High court had granted him bail in sum of N300 million with two sureties in like sum. Emefiele was arraigned on a six-count charge bordering on procurement fraud and using his position to confer a corrupt advantage on Sa’adatu Yaro, a staff of CBN, by awarding a contract for the procurement of…

THE Nigerian Army Council has promoted a total of 47 Brigadier Generals to Major Generals. Also, 75 Colonels were elevated to the rank of Brigadier General. Their promotion is coming after the retirement of 113 generals on Wednesday. However, a statement on Friday by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the council approved the promotions of the senior officers on Thursday. He noted that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, urged them to redouble their efforts to justify their elevation and the confidence reposed in them. According to him, those promoted to the…

THE Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) says the agency is yet to recover from previous transportation fare waivers by the government. The Federal Government had on Wednesday announced a 50 per cent waiver on road transport and a 100 per cent fare slash for rail transportation as part of moves to cushion the impact of the high cost of living in the country, especially during Yuletide. But hours after the move, the Managing Director of the NRC Fidet Okhiria while commending the development expressed concerns over the cost of the intervention scheme and hopes the government can defray the costs. “This…

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that school feeding programme be reintroduced to address the challenges of out-of-school children. Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government had suspended the programme after many years of running it. But Tinubu ordered its restoration, saying it will help in checking learning crisis. He said if learning crisis is not tackled, it will be difficult to address the challenges of out of school children. This was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, during a one-day retreat on quick wins in the middle Ministerial deliverables from 2023 to 2027. According to the minister, the…

VICE President Kashim Shettima has said the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s watch will never shift ground in its determination to protect businesses in Nigeria. According to him, enterprises are not only the very bedrock of a society but also reflect the direction the government is heading to and the speed with which it is doing so. The VP who stated this on Wednesday while commissioning the corporate headquarters of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in Abuja noted that the Tinubu administration is strategically focusing on job creation, capital accessibility, economic growth, and…

THE National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, vowed to take disciplinary measures against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and other members of the PDP who worked against the party at the appropriate time. PDP National Chairman, Umar Damagum, stated this at a news conference in Abuja. The PDP NWC also differed with President Bola Tinubu’s position on the ongoing political face-off in Rivers State, insisting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must conduct elections to fill the seats of 27 lawmakers who defected from the PDP to the…

A COURT of Appeal, Abuja Division on Tuesday, affirmed the election of two former governors of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal and Aliyu Wamakko as Senators representing Sokoto South and Sokoto North. The election of Tambuwal, the immediate past governor of the state and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party was challenged by the immediate past senator representing the district, Ibrahim Danbaba while Wamakko was challenged by the immediate past deputy governor of the state, Manir Dan’iya. The three-man judges led by Justice Mustapha Muhammad in two separate judgments, dismissed Danbaba’s petition against Tambuwal and awarded a fine of N500,000…

THE Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), says the agency has seized N800bn worth of illicit substances and arrested 42,105 offenders, including 46 barons, in the last three years. Marwa gave the figures on Monday when he received the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, at the NDLEA National Headquarters, Garki, Area 11, Abuja. “The criminal elements rely on drugs to carry out their criminalities and that is why we have been very ferocious in our offensive action against them to cut access and availability of these illicit drugs. As a result,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has accepted the resignation of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, the Presidency confirmed to this newspaper. Lalong will now proceed to the National Assembly as Senator representing Plateau South Senatorial, a seat he won as affirmed by an appeal court ruling dated November 7, 2023. “Lalong has resigned. But it was not at the FEC meeting itself. It must have been after the meeting because, if it were earlier, the President or SGF would have announced it during the meeting,” a presidential aide told our correspondent. The former Plateau State Governor is due to…

THE former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu, has said he recently decided to leave active politics in the country because he noticed that he had started developing allergies for political activities. Adamu made the disclosure on Saturday in Lafia at the presentation and launching of a book titled, ‘Progressive governance: Showcasing the achievements of His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State 2019 – 2023’, which was written by Abdullahi Tanimu. Speaking on the content of the book, which has 230 pages and a total of 23 chapters, the former APC national chairman, who was the…