Author: Amina Ibrahim

THE military rulers who seized control in Niamey on July 26 have given the French ambassador 48 hours to leave Niger, the country’s minister of foreign affairs said in a statement Friday. Faced with “the refusal of the French ambassador in Niamey to respond to an invitation” from the minister for a meeting Friday and “other actions of the French government contrary to the interests of Niger”, the authorities have decided to withdraw their approval of Sylvain Itte and ask him to depart within 48 hours, the statement said. The coup leaders have not been shy about their relationship with…

THE Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) held an emergency meeting at the forum’s secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday night. The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, also attended the meeting. Although journalists were not allowed to cover the opening, the agenda distributed to the governors showed that issues about state and national security will top part of the deliberations. Other items listed for deliberations include fuel subsidy palliative intervention by President Bola Tinubu, a review of the National Executive Council agenda, and a brief on the new Electricity Act. The meeting was chaired by the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. Other…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Tuesday assured Nigerians that there will be no increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, anywhere in the country. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, noted that the market has been deregulated and will remain so. He emphasised that government will address the inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum subsectors to maintain prices where they are without having to resort to a reversal of the administration’s policy in the petroleum industry. This comes less than 24 hours after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu is profoundly saddened by the news of the passing of Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Kayode Laro. He extends his deepest condolences to Ambassador Laro’s family, the diplomatic community, as well as the Government and people of Kwara State. The President recognizes Ambassador Laro’s tireless dedication in fostering mutually-beneficial diplomatic ties between Nigeria and France during his tenure, noting his commitment to diplomacy and the impactful role he played in ensuring the success of the President’s visit to France in June this year, which was the President’s first foreign trip following his assumption of office. Having devoted himself…

THE National Judicial Council (NJC) has dismissed a letter purportedly emanating from it, surrendering its statutory powers and functions on judges’ appointments and promotions to state governors. The NJC said that the letter addressed to the Chief Judge of Kebbi State and purportedly signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, did not emanate from the Council or the CJN. In a statement issued on Sunday by NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, it said that there was no iota of truth whatsoever in the fake letter. The fake letter titled ‘Order of Seniority of Judges of…

FIRST Lady Oluremi Tinubu, has renamed the main auditorium of Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development after Dr Maryam Abacha, Wife of former military Head of State late Gen. Sani Abacha. The hall, formerly known as African Peace Mission Hall, was unveiled by the First Lady and renamed after Abacha in recognition of her strong advocacy for peace across the African continent. In her keynote address, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu said the occasion was a significant milestone in the collaborative efforts in strengthening connections and solidifying the progress in achieving unity and lasting relationship among women. She…

MARYAM Shetty, a staunch member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose ministerial nomination was withdrawn by President Bola Tinubu, says the best is yet to come. In a statement on Saturday about 24 hours after the dramatic twist of events, Shetty said “life, with its characteristic unpredictability, led to the withdrawal of my nomination”. About one week after his first batch list of 28 ministerial nominees was sent to the Senate, Tinubu, last Wednesday, sent 19 more names to the upper chamber for confirmation as ministers. Shetty was one of the 19 names in the supplementary ministerial list for…

SENATOR Ireti Kingibe of the Labour Party (LP) has lauded President Bola Tinubu for nominating an indigene of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Zephaniah Jisalo as a minister. Jisalo is the first FCT indigene to be nominated as a minister since the present democratic dispensation in 1999, a feat Senator Kingibe, who is also from the area, is grateful for. “I would like to, first of all, congratulate my nominee and all of the FCT for this nomination. We are all extremely happy and proud,” she said during the ministerial screening in Abuja on Friday. “We would like to thank…

MARYAM Shettima aka Maryam Shetty was nominated a minister by President Bola Tinubu, but Mariya Mahmoud, her classmate is on her way to being sworn in as a cabinet member. Tinubu had included Shetty’s name in the second batch of ministers sent to the Senate on Wednesday. However, knocks, condemnation and criticism trailed the nomination, which was revoked on Friday. Many had faulted the choice of Shetty who has a huge following on social media. Some had described her as a mere Tik Toker. But while Shetty arrived the National Assembly for screening on Friday, news filtered in that her…

THE special adviser on media and publicity to President Bola Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale, has said that workers should expect nothing less than double of their current salary when the new minimum wage is implemented. Ngelale stated this while discussing what the Tinubu administration is doing to cushion the effect of subsidy removal during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today. He said, “I don’t want to preempt the president or the work of the minimum wage committee that is getting it down in those states, but what I would say is this: the president will want nothing less than a…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has replaced a ministerial nominee, Maryam Shetty, choosing two others – Festus Keyamo and Dr Mariya Mahmud. This was revealed when Senate President Godswill Akpabio read out a letter by the President at Friday’s plenary session. Dr Mahmoud was a former commissioner in the Ganduje administration. President Bola Tinubu had on Wednesday sent an additional list of 19 nominees. News Point Nigeria reported on Thursday that the ministerial nomination of Maryam Shetty from Kano State by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday had continued to generate mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media, particularly, Twitter. This newspaper reported…

THE Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has dispatched a delegation to Niger Republic with a mandate to expeditiously resolve the current political impasse in the country. The action was in line with the resolution reached at the end of the extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS held last weekend in Abuja. The delegation, headed by former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd), left for Niamey on Thursday following a briefing by President Tinubu at the State House in Abuja. The former Nigerian Head of State is joined in the…

THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has suspended the Airport Taxi Services at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja with immediate effect. The suspension, FAAN said, followed the lingering factional crisis among the car hire operators. This, the authority stated, had been affecting airport car hire service operations. Director, Public Affairs & Consumer Protection of FAAN, Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua in a statement urged airport users to use alternative transportation means. The statement read: “The FAAN wishes to inform the general public that the airport car hire service at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja has been suspended with immediate effect.…

THE Federal Government says the labour leaders have resolved to stop further protests following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu Wednesday evening at the State House, Abuja. The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, and that of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Usifo, held the meeting with President Tinubu moments after the unions’ nationwide protest on Wednesday. Moments after the meeting, the Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, in a statement, said the labour leaders resolved to end the strike with confidence in the President’s ability to encourage open and honest consideration…

AMID nationwide protests, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Joe Ajaero, and his counterpart of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo, met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday. The labour leaders, who exited the Villa about 30 minutes after they arrived at 5:38 pm, said the President made some commitments to address some issues which need immediate attention. They said they would report to their executive committees where a decision would be taken on the ongoing protest, adding that Labour would conduct its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Thursday and…

SENATE President, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday, unveiled 19 more ministerial nominees submitted President Bola Tinubu amongst which are; former governors Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Simon Lalong (Plateau), and Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe) and Isiaka Oyetola (Osun). Others are; Others are Abdullahi Gwarzo, Bosun Tijani, Maryam Shetty, Isiak Salako, Tunji Alausa, Yusuf Sununu, Ibrahim Geidam, Lola John, Shuaibu Audu, Tahir Mamman, Aliyu Abdullahi, Alkali Saidu, Heineken Lokpobori, Maigari Ahmadu and Zaphaniah Jisalo. Earlier, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, submitted the supplementary ministerial list to the Senate. The immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives submitted…

THE Chief of Staff to President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has submitted President Bola Tinubu’s supplementary ministerial list to the Senate. News Point Nigeria reports that, the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives submitted the second list with the second batch of ministerial nominees to Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, at exactly 03:19pm. Gbajabiamila had last Thursday submitted the first list with 28 nominees to the red chamber and said more names would be forwarded to the upper chamber. The list is expected to be read shortly after the screening of the Kwara state ministerial nominee, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, whose screening…

THE protest by the Organised Labour against the “anti-people” policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration is getting intense as protesters, on Wednesday, morning broke down the first gate of the National Assembly (NASS) complex and forced their way into the premises. The protesters subsequently moved to the second gate of the Assembly Complex and took over the premises even as Senators immediately entered a closed-door session. The Organised Labour including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliate unions, today, kicked off a protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and other states of…

RENOWNED Academic, Dr Kabir Kabo Usman, has been appointed Pro-Chancellor of one of the National Universities Commission’s 37 newly approved private Universities, Prime University Abuja. This is contained in a Press Statement issued by Abdulkadir Ahmed Ibrahim, FNGE, Advisor on Media and Strategy to Dr Kabir Kabo, which quoted a letter of appointment to that effect from the Board of Trustees of Prime University situated at Kuje, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, FCT. The letter addressed to the appointee signed by Dr Aliyu Dikko on behalf of the Trustees states that “Following your remarkable antecedents in various fields of endeavor in…

THE Senate, on Tuesday resumed the screening of the ministerial nominees with the parliamentary privilege of “take a bow and go”. The remaining 14 nominees are to be screened today, according to the Senate order paper. They are: David Umahi (Ebonyi); Adebayo Olawale Edun (Ogun); Nasir Ahmad El-rufai CON (Kaduna); Ahmed Musa Dangiwa (Katsina) Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji (Enugu); Stella Erhuvwuoghene Okotete (Delta); Dele Alake (Ekiti); Mr. Adekola Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo); Muhammad Idris (Niger); Professor Ali Pate Bauchi; Doris Anite Uzoka (Imo); Lateef Fagbemi SAN (Kwara); Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo Akwa (Ibom); Barr Hannatu Musawa (Katsina) First to appear before the…