Author: Amina Ibrahim

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dismissed reports that it is considering the withdrawal of the redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 notes from circulation. In a statement on Sunday, the apex bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbduMumimas described the reports as “unfounded speculation”, noting that there is no plan to phase out the three newly redesigned bank notes. “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a fake news item circulating in the media, particularly in the social media space, suggesting that the Bank is contemplating the withdrawal of the recently redesigned…

AHEAD of the inauguration of a new President on May 29, 2023, Nigeria’s Boeing 737 Presidential jet has been flown out of the country for comprehensive maintenance, this newspaper gathered. Villa sources told our correspondent that NAF 001, which has served President Muhammadu Buhari, in the past eight years was taken out of the country over the weekend. Although the location is not known, past maintenance on the aircraft had been carried out by its manufacturer, Boeing, in the United States of America. Boeing’s military aircraft division builds modified 737 planes at its manufacturing facilities in Everett and Renton, Washington…

PRESIDENT-ELECT, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has gotten Lt. Col Nurudeen Alowonle Yusuf as his Aide De Camp (ADC). Lt. Col. Yusuf hails from Kwara state. Tinubu is expected to be inaugurated as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2023. He was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday asserted that while the All Progressives Congress (APC) worked hard to retain power in the 2023 elections, the combined opposition was a victim of overconfidence. According to a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, Buhari spoke at the State House when he received the Progressives Governors’ Forum led by the Chairman, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State. “They were already telling their foreign backers that they would defeat the APC. Our Party blended confidence with caution, we worked hard and won. Now, their over confidence is creating more problems for the opposition than anyone else.…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has arrived the Nigerian Army Trooping and Presentation of Colours parade 2023, News Point Nigeria reports. Buhari, who arrived Eagle Square, venue of the parade, at about 10:18am was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari. The retired army general was dressed with the ceremonial military uniform and he’s currently reviewing over 1,000 officers who are standby on the parade. This newspaper reports that the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, and the Inspector-General of Police Usman Baba are in attendance. Chief of Air Staff, Air…

THE Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, yesterday said contractors handling the Kano-Zaria and Zaria-Kaduna roads, and the Second Niger Bridge projects would hand them over in the next two days, which date is May 15. He also told newsmen after the Federal Executive Council meeting that the 116km Lagos-Ibadan Expressway with toll gates would be handed over on April 30. He said N1.398bn was approved to revise the contract for the completion of Phase 2 of Uto Bridge, 2.6km stretch in Ikenke, Delta State from N4.435bn to N5.835bn. “The Loko-Oweto Bridge is also completed, so also is the…

THE Police Service Commission (PSC) has dismissed three Assistant Superintendents of Police and demoted five others. The Commission also approved the punishment of severe reprimand to an Assistant Commissioner of Police, a Chief Superintendent of Police, four Superintendents, two Deputy Superintendents and 12 Assistant Superintendents. This was disclosed in a statement by the commission’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, on Wednesday. He said these were high points of the 20th Plenary Meeting of the Commission held on Wednesday at the Corporate Headquarters of the Commission in Abuja and presided over by the commission’s Chairman and former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.…

THE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who disclosed this on Wednesday, said these buses are expected to cost the government $1.2 million. At a media briefing after the Federal Executive Council Meeting, Onyeama stated that the government will evacuate citizens in days amid the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan. According to him, the government has concluded talks with the Sudanese government and they are on same page. He said during the evacuation, priority will not be accorded any diplomat, adding that the government will also prioritise women and children. Affirming that no Nigerian life has been lost so far, the…

THE President-Elect, Senator Bola Tinubu has met with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu at the Defence House in Abuja. In attendance at the meeting which was held behind closed doors are the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan; the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; APC National Publicity Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore and former Secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Hon James Faleke. At the end of the meeting, the APC National Chairman said the meeting is a routine exercise. He declined to disclose issues discussed at the meeting. The meeting…

NIGERIA has lost an opportunity to produce and sell about 65,700,000 barrels of oil in the last one year due to issues bothering on pipeline vandalism and the resultant oil theft. This translates to about N2.3tn loss in oil revenue if the prevailing exchange rate and average oil price are used. The Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Dr Osagie Okubor, said at the just concluded Nigerian International Energy Summit held in Abuja, said the 180, 000 barrels per day Trans Niger Pipeline had remained shut for more than one year- March 2022 to March 2023. The loss from March…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja for Accra on Tuesday, April 25 to attend the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission. According to a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, on Monday, the President is scheduled to participate and deliver remarks at the high-level discussion on strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region. As the immediate past Chair of the Assembly, the President had championed collective efforts by Member States of the region, the Economic Community of Central African States…

THE Kaduna State High Court has nullified the revocation of Durbar Hotel’s Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. In January 2020, Governor El-Rufai demolished Durbar Hotel, a property belonging to the family of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. The Governor also revoked the C of O of the hotel while the case was still pending in Court. The Abacha family through their counsel, Dr. Reuben Atabo (SAN) dragged El-Rufai and three others to Kaduna High Court presided over by Justice Hannatu Balogun for the illegal demolition of the Hotel and…

A VIOLENT clash erupted between Abuja natives and Hausa youths in Gwarinpa 3rd Avenue during the weekend, spilled to today, Monday, leaving three dead. According to sources, the fight broke out when a group of Hausa youths, who reportedly sold hard drugs, attempted to burgle and rob the household of the councillor of the ward. This infuriated the natives, and the situation quickly escalated into a full-blown clash. Eyewitnesses reported that the violence resulted in the death of three people, with several others injured, and cars vandalised. On Saturday night, security personnel were called in to quell the unrest, and…

THE Federal Government has assured of the safety and evacuation of Nigerians stranded in crisis-ridden Sudan, saying it is “working round the clock” to make that happen. Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama gave the assurance when he was featured on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria. “So, we have been working round the clock for the last two days to try and get the Nigerians out,” he said on the show, adding that the country’s embassy has been mandated to open a platform to register the nation’s citizens in Sudan. His comment comes amidst a wave of…

A WIDOWER, Ariyibi Ahmed Olaseinde and a divorcee, Akanbi Silifat Tunrayo who were going for lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos for attempting to export 14.4 kilograms of cocaine concealed in lace and ankara fabrics. Ariyibi was intercepted on Thursday 20th April at the screening point of MMIA Terminal 2 during outward clearance of Qatar Airways passengers travelling from Lagos via Doha to Medina, Saudi Arabia. When his carry-on bag was checked, four sets of white lace material with…

THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has slammed the Federal Government for the delay in the evacuation of Nigerian citizens trapped in Sudan amid a raging war between two major military factions. In a statement signed by the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, on Saturday, the union said no Nigerian must be allowed to die in Sudan because of the negligence of the Nigerian government. The NLC also described as unacceptable, the government’s “excuse that attempting to evacuate our nationals through the Airport is risky”. The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had said the authorities…

BARELY 24 hours after News Point Nigeria had exclusively reported that the Federal Government will begin the evacuation of trapped Nigerians in Sudan next week as the crisis in the country continues to deepen. A senior official at the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) had exclusively told News Point Nigeria that, the agency has had several meetings with the Embassy Of Sudan and all the relevant authorities within and outside the country over the unfortunate plight of Nigerians in Sudan. “We secured an approval for the evacuation of our people a while ago, we have met with all the relevant…

TWELVE days to the commencement of the national population and housing census, uncertainties have continued to trail the planned headcount and there are indications that it may be shifted due to funding and other logistic challenges. It was gathered on Friday that the National Population Commission might again postpone the census as it struggled to raise the required funds. Earlier in March, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, disclosed that the Federal Government planned to establish a basket fund to collect donations for the 2023 population and housing census. He made this disclosure at a…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it has no idea of the whereabouts of the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa State, Hudu Ari, since his infamous action during the supplementary governorship election in the state. Ari stirred controversy when he announced the supplementary governorship election results in Adamawa State on Sunday while collation was not yet concluded. “We don’t know where he is because, after this particular incident, the Commission wrote him and also called him on the phone. He never returned any of the calls, he never answered any of the calls. “We asked him…

TWITTER’s blue tick removal tsunami has affected Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, and others’ verification badges. A check on the handles of the Labour Party, All Progressives Congress, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate’s Twitter handles late Thursday shows that the blue tick has disappeared. Owner Elon Musk, who has seen his $44 billion investment in the site shrivel, earlier pledged to get rid of what he described as a “lords & peasants system.” Earlier dates set for the rollback of the ticks — predominately used by celebrities, journalists, and politicians — have slipped by without noticeable…