Author: Amina Ibrahim

FOLLOWING the Supreme Court judgment, which extends the validity of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) currency redesign policy to December, some deposit money banks have started paying out the old note, News Point Nigeria gathered. Checks by this newspaper showed that some commercial banks in the City of Kano and Abuja have commenced paying out the old N500 and N1000 notes. While some branches of Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) issued out old notes, some others like Polaris bank in Abuja had not commenced as of the time this report was filed. A member of staff confided in our reporter…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is asking the Presidential Election Petition Court to vary the orders which was earlier granted the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party (LP)’s Peter Obi to inspect materials used for last presidential election. In a motion on notice filed on March 4, the electoral body is praying the court to vary the order which restrained it from tampering with materials used for the election. The commission said it needed to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the next round of elections. The Court of Appeal Abuja…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it remains committed to its developmental mandate of stimulating access to finance for the real sector, disclosing that total repayments as of the end of February 2023 under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) stood at N0.503 trillion, representing 52.39 per cent, adding that the balance of N0.119 trillion was not due for repayment. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Dr. AbdulMumin Isa, disclosed this in Abuja over the weekend while exchanging views with journalists on the performance of the ABP, revealing that the Bank had released the sum of N1.079 trillion, as of…

THE Situation Room of the All Progressive Congress governorship candidate, Umar Bago, was raided by the Niger State Police Command in Minna on Sunday, News Point Nigeria gathered. According to the Director of digital and strategic communications of the Bago campaign organisation, Abdulberqy Ebbo, who spoke to our correspondent after a post on Facebook, said the police came into the building and ransacked the situation room saying they were acting on a tip off from some people. He said the Divisional Police Officer who led the search said he was reliably informed that officials of the Independent Electoral Commission were…

PRESIDENT Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt has assured President-Elect Bola Tinubu of continuous support in its relations with Nigeria, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. A statement from the Egyptian Presidency of Sunday disclosed that El-Sisi was speaking on the occasion of the conclusion of the Presidential and National Assembly elections. “His Excellency Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, extends his sincere congratulations to the people and the Government of Nigeria on the conclusion of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, which represented a critical step towards the consolidation of democracy in sisterly Nigeria.’’ El-Sisi said…

EIGHT days after Nigeria held its presidential poll, the United States, has said that the exercise failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election after polling 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission has so far uploaded 161,624 results from 176, 846 polling units, eight days after the presidential poll. The figure represents 92 per cent of results from all the polling units. As of the time of filing this report, the electronic transmission of results was still ongoing. Nigerians expected that the election results would be uploaded on election day as promised by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. However, INEC came under fire for its failure to upload results to its viewing portal which led to the walkout of some party agents on Monday at the National…

THE International Monetary Fund has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria and other monetary authorities to deemphasise monetary policy as a way of tackling the resurgence of inflation. In a new report titled “Rethinking monetary policy in a changing world,” the Washington-based lender said the ability of central banks to set monetary policy and control the economy in more fraught times hinges on its independence. According to the report, the low-interest rates and less extreme public debt levels that prevailed after the global crisis of 2008 permitted central banks to ignore what were then relatively inconsequential interactions between monetary and…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the issuance of certificates of return to elected members of the National Assembly for Tuesday and Wednesday. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this on Saturday morning, while giving his address at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja. Yakubu said winners were declared for 423 legislative seats, indicating that supplementary elections would be conducted in 46 other constituencies. The elected legislators include 98 out of 109 Senate, and 325 out of 360 House of Representatives seats. Seven parties won in the Senate, while eight parties won House of Representatives…

THE President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has congratulated the Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on his victory in last Saturday’s presidential election. The Ukrainian president took to Twitter to send compliments on Thursday, a day after Tinubu was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “Congratulations to @officialABAT on winning the Nigerian presidential election. I look forward to close cooperation,” he said. “I’m convinced that bilateral interaction will be strengthened is ready to work together to overcome global challenges, including threats to food security!” Congratulations to @officialABAT on winning the Nigerian presidential election. I look…

THE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Nigerians that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be used in the forthcoming governorship and state legislature elections. Yakubu gave the assurance on Saturday in an ongoing meeting with all Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the INEC headquarters in Abuja. According to him, the BVAS machines will be used for the elections, though the devices are being worked on to avoid a repeat of the glitches recorded with the last Saturday’s elections. The agenda of the meeting was not disclosed to the media, however, journalists…

THE governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has blamed those he referred to as inherited Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the All Progressives Congress (APC) for ‘misleading’ President Muhammadu Buhari on the naira redesign policy. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes which were initially suspended from circulating by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the orders of the President, remain in circulation till December 31, 2023. The court held that the unlawful use of executive powers by the President, inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens by denying them ownership of and…

SEVEN states under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Taraba, and Sokoto – which filed a suit against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court challenging the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president-elect, have discontinued the suit. News Point Nigeria reports that, the Notice of Discontinuance which was signed by their lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, says “Take notice that the plaintiffs doth hereby wholly discontinue this suit against the defendant herein”. In the earlier suit which had the Attorneys-General of the states as…

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday granted the request of Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, request to inspect the election materials used during last Saturday’s presidential poll. News Point Nigeria had earlier reported that Atiku and Obi approached to Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during last Saturday’s poll. News Point Nigeria also reports that Atiku and Obi refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election, vowing to recover their mandate in court. The two candidates rebuffed the gesture…

GOVERNOR Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Friday alleged that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele introduced the naira redesign policy to help the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) win the 2023 general elections. “Emefiele was appointed Central Bank Governor by the PDP originally. So, let’s not forget where he came from,” El-Rufai said at a media chat just after the Supreme Court ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023. The apex court also nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, declaring it as an affront to the…

THE Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq has presented food items to victims of Maiduguri Monday Market fire incident in Borno state. According to a signed statement by the Special Adviser, Media to the minister, Nneka Ikem Anibeze issued and made available to News Point Nigeria, Friday, the minister made the presentation to the Governor of Borno state, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum on Thursday when she paid a condolence visit to the state government. Among the food items presented include 20 bags of 25kg rice, 10 cartons of macaroni and Spaghetti and 5,000 gallons of…

THE Supreme Court on Friday ordered that old N200, N500, N1,000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023. The apex court also nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign olicy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution. The Supreme Court delivered judgement in the suit brought against the Federal Government on the naira redesign policy. Sixteen states of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy. The suit initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states has been slated as the first case on the cause list for final…

THE Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively have approached to Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during last Saturday’s poll. News Point Nigeria reports that Atiku and Obi refused to concede defeat in the February 25 presidential election, vowing to recover their mandate in court. The two candidates rebuffed the gesture of conciliation made by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, who in his acceptance speech after he was declared the winner of the poll on Wednesday, asked them to support him in the task of…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will conduct supplementary polls after the governorship and state house of assembly elections. Guber and assembly elections will take place next weekend, two weeks after the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly polls. “The Commission is aware that in some Senatorial Districts and Federal Constituencies, Declarations and Returns were not made. The Commission is compiling the list of the affected constituencies,” INEC’s National Commissioner Festus Okoye said in a Thursday statement. “A date for supplementary elections will be fixed after the Governorship and State Assembly elections.” The electoral umpire also expressed…

ATIKU Abubakar says he is open to an alliance with the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi.  The PDP presidential candidate for the 2023 elections made the comment during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, a day after Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared as the winner of Saturday’s exercise. While the PDP and LP have rejected the outcome of the poll, Atiku, who ran alongside Obi in the 2019 election, says he is open to working with the former Anambra State governor. “So, as far as I am concerned, Peter is welcome to…