Author: Amina Ibrahim

THE Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has urged the Muslims across the country to look out this year’s Ramadan after sunset on Wednesday. The Director of Administration of the council, Arc. Zubairu Haruna Usman-Ugwu, said this in a statement in Abuja. “Consequent upon the advice of the National Moon-Sighting Committee (NMSC), the President-General enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to search for the crescent of Ramadan 1444 A.H. immediately after sunset on Wednesday, 29th Sha’aban, 1444 A.H. which is equivalent to 22nd March, 2022.…

GOVERNOR Abdullahi Sule, on Monday, was announced as the winner of the Nasarawa State governorship election. The Returning Officer of the governorship election, Professor Tanko Ishaya, declared that Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 347,209 to beat his closest contender, David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 283,016 votes. However, the PDP expressed dissatisfaction with the results, saying it would seek redress in court, while the APC said it would also challenge the local government areas that the PDP won.

THE police in Kogi have rescued 96 staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lokoja, the state capital. News Point Nigeria reports that the victims, comprising INEC officials, ad hoc Staff and bus drivers, were attacked by gunmen at Obajana while on their way from Kupa North and South wards to the Constituency Collation Centre in Lokoja. The Police Public Relations Officer, William Ovye Aya, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the gunmen fled with injuries. “The Police escort attached to the team responded robustly and engaged with hoodlums in a fierce gun duel,” the…

GOVERNOR AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has been reelected for another four-year term. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate polled 273,424 to defeat his closest opponents — Abdullah Yahman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 155,490 and Hakeem Lawal of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who got 18,922 votes. Governorship elections were held in 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states on Saturday. The governorship and state assembly elections were held a week later than initially scheduled after a court case forced INEC to move them forward. Eight of the 36 states — Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun,…

WHAT several voters saw as an opportunity to exercise their franchise turned sour as violent attacks, ballot box snatching, delays and more tainted the governorship and state assembly elections across the country on Saturday. While the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) seemed to impress voters, relative to the February 25 federal elections, and the exercise kicked off on time at many polling units, a number of others experienced disruptions and delays. One prominent case was the affluent Victoria Garden City (VGC) in the Ajah area of Eti-Osa Local Government Area (LGA), Lagos State, where the exercise failed to be conducted.…

THE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu, and the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Lagos State, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour lost their polling units in Saturday’s governorship and state House of Assembly elections. Adamu, who hails from Keffi Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, lost to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, David Ombugadu at his GRA (A1) – PB 010 polling unit. According to the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission Presiding Officer, Okoh Everest, the PDP candidate polled 158 votes to defeat the state Governor, Abdullahi Sule, who scored 129 votes,…

THE Independent National ELectoral Commission (INEC) has uploaded some of the results of Saturday’s elections via Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to the IREV data base. The non use of BVAS for the February 25 election had created confidence crisis for the electoral body, which was heavily criticised by Nigerians and electoral officials. Although the commission cited technical glitch as reason for not using BVAS for result transmission, many critics refused to accept the excuse. However, the commission promised to improve and make use of the device in the ongoing election. This newspaper observed that the result of Ward 001,…

FINALLY, accreditation and voting have commenced at PU 024, LEA Primary School, Kawo in Kaduna North Local Government Area. Many voters are in the queue to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. Voting has also begun in unit five, ward four, Abonnema, Akuku-Toru LGA, Rivers State. Millions of voters get to choose their governors and state house of assembly members for a new four-year term. Three weeks after a dramatic round of presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) again takes centre stage for the conduct of governorship and state house of assembly polls across…

WITH Presidential and National Assembly elections concluded and results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, albeit with the attendant legal tussles following, the battlegrounds have shifted to states. Nigerians will head to the polls again on Saturday, March 18, 2023 to elect governors and state assembly members. In all, 18 political parties fielded candidates for the governorship elections slated to hold in 28 out of the 36 states of the Federation. This is so because the governorship elections of eight states (Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo) are held off-season due to litigations and court judgements.…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has defended the award of a contract for printing election materials to Binani Printing Press Limited. The printing press is alleged to be linked to the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Adamawa, Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed popularly known as Binani. It was gathered that the contract was awarded for the printing of election results sheets and security documents for the general elections. INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, in a statement on Thursday, said the contract was handed out after competitive and transparent bidding. Okoye said the…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has indicated a wish to see the foundation laid by his administration in the war against graft sustained by successive governments in the country. The President gave the indication today when he met with the management of the Code of Conduct Tribunal led by its Chairman, Danladi Umar, at the state house. He maintained that corruption has remained an existential threat to nations, while recognising the sacrifices made by the Code of Conduct Tribunal headed by its Chairman, Danladi Umar and other similar agencies, amidst the stiff economic and revenue shortages. “It is our hope that the…

AHEAD of the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba has ordered the restriction of all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation, from 12 am to 6 pm on election day. However, those on essential services such as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), electoral observers, accredited media and observers as well as emergency responders are excluded. “This directive excludes the Federal Capital Territory as no election is being conducted therein,” said Force Spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi. “Similarly, the IGP reiterates the ban on all security…

TROOPS of Joint Taskforce of Northwest Operation Hadarin Daji have neutralized several bandits following a clearance operation around Kagara, Gidan Fadama, Gangara, Tseika, Malamawa and Zango Kamarawa general areas, under Talata Mafara and Shinkafi Local Government Areas in Zamfara state. News Point Nigeria learnt that, troops on Tuesday and Wednesday, embarked on clearance operations on several bandits’ camps in these areas, engaged the terrorists in fierce gun battle, killed several bandits and destroyed their camps and hideouts. The troops of Operation Hadarin Daji also recovered 1 Rocket Propeller Grenade (RPG), 1 PKT Machine Gun with several live ammunitions, 3 AK-47…

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have withdrawn a fresh application they filed to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow their agents to participate in the process of sorting out ballot papers that were used for the presidential election that held on February 25. Both PDP and Atiku, who are separately challenging the outcome of the election, told the Presidential Election Petition Court that they were no longer interested in the application and have filed a notice of discontinuance. According to a source who spoke to News Point Nigeria on condition of…

THE World Health Organization (WHO) has included Nigeria and 54 other countries on its Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List 2023. The global health body stated that the countries face the most pressing health workforce challenges related to universal health coverage. “In particular, these countries have: 1) a density of doctors, nurses and midwives below the global median (i.e., 49 per 10 000 population); and 2) a universal health coverage service coverage index below a certain threshold,” WHO said in the report released March 8. “To account for the disruptions caused to health services by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied appointing a former Commissioner in Lagos State, Femi Odubiyi, as the head of its Information and Communications Technology Department. In a statement on Tuesday, the Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, debunked claims made by former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Bode George that the electoral body appointed Odubiyi to its payroll. Okoye said the claim by the PDP chieftain is false, adding that INEC staff were non-partisan and have not occupied any political position in the past. “Nothing can be farther from the truth,” Okoye said.…

THE lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, is confident that the relationship between the President-elect, Bola Tinubu and the 10th National Assembly will be hitch-free. Ndume, who briefed journalists in Abuja on Monday, said the incoming administration of Tinubu will be what he described as a National Assembly government. This to him is because both Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, as well as All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu and Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, are former members of the National Assembly. After a meeting between the APC leadership and the National Assembly members elected on the…

THE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has debunked speculation that he is lobbying to be appointed as Chief of Staff to the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu. Gbajabiamila, who has been representing the Surulere I Federal Constituency of Lagos since 2003, is a key loyalist of Tinubu’s. While other elected members of the 10th House of Representatives were at the International Conference Centre (ICC) to collect their certificates of return, the Speaker was noticeably absent last week. As a result of his absence, there were reports that Gbajabiamila was lobbying to be appointed as chief of staff to Tinubu.…

FOLLOWING the compliance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the Supreme Court’s ruling validating the old naira notes, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, says citizens can now heave a sigh of relief as more cash is expected in circulation. On Monday, the apex bank asked money deposit banks to dispense and accept old naira notes until December 31, as stipulated by the apex court. Governor Matawalle, in a swift response, described the CBN’s directive as a victory for Nigerians. In statement by his spokesman, Zailani Bappa, the governor maintained that the suit instituted against the naira redesign policy…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday said old N200, N500, N1,000 banknotes remain legal tender till December 31, 2023. The apex bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin disclosed this in a statement on Monday. This is coming 10 days after the Supreme Court ruled that old naira notes should co-exist with new ones till the end of the year. “In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the Rule of Law Principle that characterized the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of…