Author: Amina Ibrahim

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to commence the payment of the redesigned naira notes over the counter, subject to a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000. The directive is coming on the heels of business grinding to a halt over the scarcity of the redesigned notes, having deposited old notes with the commercial banks. The CBN reiterated its commitment to Nigerians to ensure the effective distribution of the newly introduced naira banknotes, urging them to exercise patience as the CBN is working assiduously to address the challenge of queues at ATMs. The statement…

THE Controller General, Federal Fire Service, Jaji Abdulganiyu, has said the service is working on a plan that will protect the Independent National Electoral Commission’s facilities, polling units, and collation centres during, and after the forthcoming elections from fire attacks and outbreaks. He said this was important to protect the electoral process from political hoodlums and other criminal elements who might want to use fire attacks to frustrate the process. Abdulganiyu spoke during a brainstorming session aimed at providing fire cover for the general elections in Abuja on Wednesday. He, however, lamented recent fire attacks on INEC facilities in some…

THE wife of the President, Aisha Buhari on Wednesday, shared a video of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State saying that elements in Aso Villa are working against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu ahead of the February 25 poll. Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, had at the keenly contested presidential primary of the APC in June, trounced top aspirants including former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Ahmad Lawan; former Minister of Education, State, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba; amongst other stalwarts in the party. News Point Nigeria reported that, earlier on Wednesday,…

THE House of Representatives, on Tuesday, partly approved of the requests made by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Ways and Means Advances from the Central Bank of Nigeria. While the House approved restructuring of N1tn WMAs, the lawmakers dropped the request for N22,719,703,774,306.90 from the CBN. This was based on the recommendation by the Joint Committees on Finance; Banking and Currency; and Aids, Loans and Debts Management laid, considered and adopted by the House in plenary. The Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Musa Abdullahi, laid the report. The report partly read, “Based on the observations and the exigencies…

THE United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, on Wednesday, reiterated her country’s support for transparent and credible elections that reflect the will of the people, adding that the US has no preferred candidate in the coming elections. This is coming 24 days before the presidential election which is contested by candidates of 18 political parties. She also declared the country would not influence or favour any candidate vying for the topmost position. Leonard, who spoke during a one-day multi-stakeholders dialogue titled, ‘Nigeria’s 2023 Elections: Fostering Youth action for peace and stability’, in Abuja, stated that the elections presented an…

SPECIAL Adviser to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal on female Education, Hajiya Aishatu Maina, is dead. She died minutes after attending the Presidential rally of the People Democratic Party (PDP) which took place in Sokoto state on Tuesday. Our correspondent gathered that Maina was caught in a stampede that occurred at the exit gate of Giginya Stadium, the venue of the rally. “A motorcyclist fell down from his bike at the exit way of the stadium and that caused a serious stampede, with people falling upon one another. She was one of the victims,” a staff member of the Ministry of…

WITH less than 25 days to the general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission has said that the scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, may affect the movement of election materials and election personnel. The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made this known in a meeting with National Union of Road Transport Workers in Abuja on Tuesday. Yakubu said the commission would be meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, to resolve any issues that might affect logistics delivery and personnel movement on election day. The nation has been battling crippling fuel scarcity in the last three…

BANKS will continue to accept the old naira notes even after the deadline for swapping with the newly-designed currency notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has said. The apex bank recently extended the deadline for the swap of the newly-designed N1,000 and N500 and N200 notes following an outcry from Nigerians. But while appearing before the House of Representatives committee on the new naira redesign and naira swap policy Tuesday, the CBN chief said banks will still accept the old notes after the deadline. He said subject to Section 20, Subsection 3 of the CBN Act…

THE Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, says one of the most challenging assignments of his office is land matters. The Minister gave this insight on Monday in Abuja at the 20th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari’ (PMB) Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023). News Point Nigeria reports that the scorecard series was organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture to showcase the achievements of the PMB Administration. Responding to a question on why he was not allocating land to individual who subscribed, Bello explained that accessing land in the FCT was not going to be easy as it…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday said it nabbed members of a syndicate of currency racketeers hoarding and trading with redesigned naira notes. EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwajaren, said that the arrest happened in separate operations in the Zone 4 and Dei Dei axis of the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday and Monday. The operation followed intelligence on activities of unscrupulous currency speculators who were exploiting desperate citizens by offering them the new naira notes for foreign currencies at below the going rate, the anti-graft agency said. He said the suspects have made useful statements, including disclosure that…

THE Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to hold the forthcoming general elections in one day, saying that violence may mar the staggered polls. The Council said violence might erupt after the first elections on February 25th, due to the desperation of some politicians who are already warming up to cause a crisis to stop the elections knowing fully well that they may lose the contests. Addressing a news conference in Kaduna on Sunday, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Shari’a in Nigeria, Nafi’u Baba-Ahmed, says that the security…

MEN of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command at about 4:40 am in the early hours of Saturday foiled an armed robbery incident and killed one suspected robber in the Kabusa area of Abuja. The prompt intervention of the police follows a distress call to the Kabusa Police Division about an armed robbery incident in the ECWA 2 community of Kabusa Village. According to the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, some of the exhibits recovered from the scene included a Baretta pistol, one round of 9mm live ammunition, two axes, one mobile phone, and a silver whistle. Adeh…

DESPITE the February 10 extension of naira note deadline, some Point of Sale (PoS) operators are taking advantage of the rush by residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to meet the new deadline for Naira swap to make brisk business. In Abuja that some PoS centers visited by News Point Nigeria had increased their charges from a minimum of N100 to N200 for cash withdrawals. One of the operators, Kelechi Ugwu, said they charged that much because of the rigours of queueing at Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to get the new Naira notes. She said, “yesterday, we went to…

THE Department of State Services (DSS) said it has intercepted some syndicates in parts of the country for allegedly selling the newly redesigned Naira notes. This is contained in a statement issued by Dr. Peter Afunanya, the Public Relations Officer of the DSS on Monday in Abuja. He said the syndicates were intercepted by operatives of the service during an operation. “Investigation has also shown that some Commercial Bank officials were aiding the economic malfeasance. “Consequently, the Service warns the currency racketeers to desist from this ignoble act. “Appropriate regulatory authorities are, in this same vein, urged to step up…

THE Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has  been thrown into mourning following the death of its only female Director,  Mrs Nkechi Onwukwe. The Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq expressed shock at her sudden demise when she paid a condolence visit to the family in Kado, Abuja at the weekend. In a signed statement by the Special Adviser, Media, Nkechi Ikem Anibeze, issued on Sunday and made available to News Point Nigeria, the minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo mni led the management staff of the ministry to commiserate with the family. Umar…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Brig. Gen. Y. D. Ahmed as the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps. He will be officially taking over on Monday from Christy Uba who piloted the affairs of the NYSC for about three months. Uba, the most senior director, was appointed by the Presidency following the sacking of Brig. Gen. Mohammed Fadah over alleged incompetence and poor performance. Recall that on November 22 2022, the NYSC  announced the elevation of its Director, Information and Communications Technology, Christy Uba as its acting Director-General. She made history as the first woman to…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria has again said that the January 31 deadline for the validity of the old 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes remains unchanged. This is as calls from various quarters have poured in pleading and demanding with the apex bank to shift grounds and extend the deadline in order to allow Nigerians more time to return their old notes to deposit money banks, better known as commercial banks. But refusing to yield to pressure, the apex bank, via its verified Twitter page, insisted on Saturdaynight that the January 31, 2023 deadline remains. Reposting a video of…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission has extended the collection of the Permanent Voter Cards by one week. This was disclosed in a statement by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye and made available to News Point Nigeria, on Saturday. This is the second time the commission is extending the collection of PVCs due to the progress recorded so far. The statement read, “The Commission met today, Saturday, 29th January 2023 a day after its meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal capital Territory, Abuja and…

THE presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for a “slight extension” of the January 31 deadline on old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes. Atiku made the plea in a video posted on his Twitter page on Saturday, saying the “large” unbanked population, especially in the rural area, will find it almost impossible to exchange their old banknotes for the redesigned currency in time. “I’m aware of the challenges that farmers and others, like artisans, in remote areas of the country go through in moving cash from remote…

WORKERS of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) staff are threatening to embark on industrial action from Monday, January 30th over alleged abandonment by the Federal Government. The protesting staff urged the Federal Government to urgently intervene before the industrial action commences. The General Secretary of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies, Ayo Olorunfemi, led the protest on Friday. According to Olorunfemi, several staff members of the service have not been receiving any form of capital funding from Federal Government in the last 15 years. He also asked the government to beam its searchlight on the finances…