Author: Hamza Rufai

IN an obvious move of the historic Kanuri and Fulani jibe, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima has said that he will retire the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections Atiku Abubakar to his hometown and buy livestock for him to rear. Shettima said this during a chat with reporters moments after the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. The Fulanis, Atiku’s tribe and the Kanuris, Shettima’s tribe, have centuries old supremacy jibe, with the Kanuris claiming they colonialised the Fulanis and taught…

THE Nasarawa State government has denied sending traditional rulers to meet with any person on its behalf, warning residents against disrespecting traditional rulers because of politics. This newspaper reports that last week Wednesday, some selected traditional rulers led by the Emir of Lafia, HRH Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad, who doubles as the Chairman of the state Council of Chiefs, paid a congratulatory visit on the vice president in Abuja, with the visit drawing diverse commentaries, especially from opposition political parties in the state. The Commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Aliyu Tijani Ahmed, in a statement yesterday,…

THE Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) led by Justice Haruna Tsammani on Wednesday dismissed the claims of the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, that they won 25% of needed votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). During the 2023 presidential election on February 25, LP and Obi won 25%, by securing about 59 per cent of the votes cast. Neither President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (19 per cent) nor Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (15 per cent) scored up to 25 per cent of the votes in the Nigerian capital. Ruling…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has arrived New Delhi, India, for the G-20 Leaders’ Summit. The President arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday after departing Abuja for the summit in India on the special invitation of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The President’s trip took place hours to a warning strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over palliatives to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy. While away, the the Presidential Election Petition Court will also deliver judgments in the petitions by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) as well as their presidential candidates challenging…

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo says he picked the late President Musa Yar’Adua as his successor despite knowing he was ill. He said he took the decision because medical advice showed that Yar’Adua, who had a kidney transplant, was fit to act as President. This newspaper reports that Obasanjo twice led Nigeria; first as military head of state (1976-1979) and later as an elected civilian president (1999-2007). Obasanjo’s deputy, Abubakar Atiku; and ex-Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili were among those who fought for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket. The ex-general eventually settled for Yar’ Adua in 2007, who…

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed concern about Nigeria’s bloated civil service payroll at the national and sub-national levels. The president bore his mind on Monday while speaking at a meeting in the State House, Abuja, with the Global Vice President of Oracle, Mr. Andres Garcia Arroyo. He told his guest that with cutting edge technology, the country would digitize the public service and surgically apply public money for growth. He said: “Each time they give me the payroll number, I get so frightened. Where am I going to get the capital to develop the infrastructure we desperately require if…

THE much-anticipated verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPT) is expected to be delivered on Wednesday, September 6th. The Court of Appeal Registrar Umar Bangari confirmed this to News Point Nigeria on Monday, saying the proceedings will be open to live broadcast by interested television and radio stations. The Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), as well as their presidential candidates, had petitioned the tribunal seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. Judgement is also expected to be delivered by election…

FOLLOWING the declaration of a two-day warning strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, some state chapters of the organised labour union have expressed their readiness to join the industrial action. The leadership of the state chapters of the labour unions, in separate interviews with our correspondents, said they have ordered their members to join the warning strike which is scheduled to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 5 and 6, 2023. Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the Chairman, NLC Lagos chapter, Mrs Agnes Sessi, said Lagos NLC would join the nationwide strike. “We are under the authority of…

FORMER President Muhammadu Buhari has accused ex-Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, of anti-corruption pretense. In an interview with Adesua Giwa-Osagie, Adoke had commented on the corruption allegations pressed against him and former Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki. “I have been a victim of corruption allegations by the immediate past government. The most incompetent government we’ve ever seen in this country; ran by the most incompetent President that this country has ever had and will never have again. And ran by a set of political morons,” he had said. Reacting to some of his allegations through his spokesman Malam…

THE Nigeria Labour Congres (NLC) has declared a two-day warning strike, beginning on Tuesday, September 5, in protest against the Federal Government for failing to address the challenges caused by the removal of fuel subsidy. The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, made the declaration on Friday during a press conference at the Labour House in Abuja, while speaking on resolutions by the NLC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting the previous day. The labour union is accusing the Federal Government of abandoning the negotiations and failing to implement some of the resolutions from previous meetings with the government. On August 2, organised…

THE Niger State governor, Mohammed Umar Bago has ordered a waiver for employment of qualified doctors and other healthcare professionals in hospitals across the state. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Binta Mamman made this known while briefing the media after the State Executive Council meeting in Government House. Mamman said the state had come to terms with the reality of shortage of healthcare workers that had hindered effective healthcare service delivery in the state, saying that the government was assessing the level of shortage of manpower in various departments in the healthcare sector to know the numbers required. Also…

THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has dared the leadership of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to suspend or discipline him. Wike, who spoke exclusively on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday monitored by News Point Nigeria, said he has not seen the party chieftain who will suspend or expel him from the party. “Who will discipline me? I should be the one calling for the discipline of these people who violated the party’s constitution, in the way that the party supported rotation. “Who will suspend me? I want to dare anybody,” Wike…

VICE President Kashim Shettima has called on stakeholders to ensure transparency, equity and fairness in the distribution of fertilizers to farmers. He made the call on Tuesday when he met with Fertilizers Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Shettima said President Bola Tinubu is passionate about reducing the cost of fertilizers for Nigerian farmers as part of efforts to achieve food security in the country. According to him, the President will be happy if the price of fertilizers collapses by 50% after the exercise. The Vice President said the Federal Government is collaborating with…

THE Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Tuesday named the Minister of the Federal Capital (FCT) Nyesom Wike as a member of the party’s campaign council for the Bayelsa governorship poll.  Ganduje also named the former governor of Rivers State as a member of the campaign councils for Kogi and Imo governorship polls billed for later in the year. “The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), H. E. Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CON, in consultation with the National Working Committee (NWC), has approved the composition of the Bayelsa State National Gubernatorial Campaign Council…

THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike has started to make good his threat of demolishing illegal structures in the capital as the Federal Capital Territory Administration on Monday demolished a multimillion-naira duplex located at Plot 226 Cadastral Zone, A02 Wuse 1, Wuse Zone 6 District, for building on an unapproved plot of land. Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the Director, Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima, claimed that the building was said to belong to the late Alake of Egba Land, Oba Oye Lipede, but was taken over by Ibrahim Kamba and Ademu Teku, who…

NIGER Delta leader Asari Dokubo on Sunday paid a “congratulatory” visit to the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, at his residence in Abuja. Photos of Dokubo’s visit were made public by the APC on X (formerly Twitter), weeks after Ganduje’s recent emergence as the party’s National Chairman. Though the Niger Delta agitator is not a known APC member, he is a staunch supporter of President Bola Tinubu. On June 16, he visited the President at the State House for a private meeting during which they discussed several issues, including investigations of the allegations of…

DAYS after President Bola Tinubu swore in 45 ministers who will work in his cabinet, some of them who were appointed to head newly created ministries will have to work without physical offices and government officials assigned to them, this newspaper has learnt. Some of the new ministries were created from old and existing ones. For instance, the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, which is currently headed by Gboyega Oyetola, emerged from the Ministry of Transportation currently headed by Sa’idu Alkali. Though the two ministers were sworn in on Monday, Oyetola resumed at the Ministry of Transportation immediately while…

CHICAGO State University (CSU) has given a condition to release the credentials of President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu’s main opponent in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had filed an application for his rival’s academic record. Atiku had approached a US court at the northern district of Illinois in Chicago, for an order compelling the CSU to release the academic records of Tinubu. Documents sought by Atiku, through his counsel, Angela M. Liu, include record of his admission and acceptance at the university, dates of attendance including degrees, awards and honours attained by Tinubu at…

THE National Bureau of Statistics has said that in Q1 2023, 92.6 per cent of employed persons in Nigeria were in informal employment which includes agriculture, while 89.4 per cent in informal employment which excludes agriculture. The NBS stated this in its “Nigeria Labour Force Survey” published on its website on Thursday. According to the report, Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 5.3 per cent in Q4 2022 and 4.1 per cent in Q1 2023. The figure indicates a significant drop in the unemployment rate, compared to the 33.3 per cent published by the statistics body as Nigeria’s unemployment rate in 2020.…

DIRECTORS of the Department of State Services (DSS) across the six states in the North-East geopolitical zone have asked governors of the zone to prioritise the distribution of relief materials to strengthen security gains in the insurgency-ravaged area. The request was part of the communique reached at the end of the quarterly conference held at the state headquarters of the DSS in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The top secret police operatives had gathered in Maiduguri to discuss the zone’s security and the role of intelligence gathering in the fight against terrorism. After the meeting, the DSS directors in the…