A FORMER Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, on Friday said that governance is out of President Muhammadu Buhari’s hands. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s special programme, The 2023 Verdict, monitored by News point Nigeria, the ex-SGF said has said that there is no government without an inner caucus. According to him, those in the current administration who had the ears of the President refused to carry Buhari’s expectations. “Things are out of his hands, there’s no running away from that fact. There are people that do not take the orders they are given,” he…
Author: Amina Ibrahim
Read More
THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the arrest and subsequent prosecution of all individuals engaged in the sale or abuse of the naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). According to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Friday, the directive is in furtherance of the Federal Government’s policy and drive to uphold the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007, and dignify Nigeria’s currency. The IGP ordered the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG)…
GOVERNORS of the All Progressive Congress (APC) have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to allow both the old and new naira notes to co-circulate to ease the suffering of Nigerians. Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of the Kano state disclosed this after the APC governors meeting with the Nigerian leader at the State House in Abuja on Friday. The President has promised to look into the situation, he said. The governors told the President that while they agreed that his decision on the renewal of currency was good and they are fully in support, its execution had been botched and their constituents…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has struck a $741 million deal with Daewoo Engineering and Construction Company to rehabilitate an oil refinery in Kaduna State. According to Bloomberg, NNPCL signed the maintenance service contract with the South Korean engineering firm at a ceremony held on Thursday. In a statement issued by the company, it read, “Under the terms of the agreement, Daewoo will restore production at the inoperative 110,000 barrels-a-day facility to at least 60 per cent of its capacity by the end of 2024. “The deal is part of the NNPCL’s efforts to reduce Nigeria’s near total reliance…
AHEAD of the 2023 general elections, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept the nominations of candidates of the Labour Party (LP) in 24 states of the Federation. The court ordered that the electoral body must accept the list of the candidates, either manually or through its electronic nomination portal. Delivering judgement, Justice Ekwo held that INEC violated Sections 31, 33 and 36 of the Electoral Act 2022 in rejecting the LP candidates in the affected states on the ground of non-functional of its nomination portal. The…
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has barred government officials from using private emails for official purpose. While noting that “the National Policy on Nigeria Government Second-Level Domains is a welcome step in this direction,” he directed that all government officials should refrain from using private emails for official purposes and Federal Public institutions (FPIs) must migrate their websites to the relevant government domains. The President stated this Thursday at the State House, Abuja, when he unveiled and launched two new policies developed by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, according to a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina. The President said…
A BUILDING under construction has collapsed in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja with many feared trapped under its rubbles. The building situated in the Gwarinpa Area of Abuja collapsed on Thursday, afternoon. A Twitter user with the handle @nnjigs who shared a video of the building claimed people were trapped under the rubble. “Just witness a poor collapse of an ongoing construction building in Gwarinpa, Abuja, 4th Avenue. People are trapped inside. Please, help inform all necessary agencies,” the tweet read. Details later….
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…