Author: Amina Ibrahim

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…

THREE days after an alleged airforce jet bombed and killed over 37 Fulani herders in Nasarawa, the military are yet to offer any kind of explanation for the unfortunate strike. All efforts to reach the Airforce for a comment by this newspaper were abortive as numerous text messages were not replied. Musa Danmadami, director of defence media operations, however, said on Thursday that the army’s counter-insurgency operations are professionally conducted. “Like I said earlier on, operations are being carried out across the length and breadth of this nation. It is not only in Nasarawa state, Niger state or Benue state…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Friday that it was ready to conduct a mock accredition of voters ahead of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections. National Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners from the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT. He said the mock accreditation exercise, which will take place in about 436 polling units across the country, is aimed at testing the readiness of the Biomodial Voter Accreditations System(BIVAS).  He said distribution of sensitive materials for the elections to the various States…

THE New Nigerian People’s Party, on Thursday, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of refusing to replace candidates who defected from the party to other platforms. The party lamented that despite orders of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court in Abuja directing INEC to accept the names of the fresh candidates submitted to it to replace those that withdrew their candidature and resigned from the party, the commission has refused to obey the order, one month to the elections. The ANPP candidates who left the party but were yet to be replaced by INEC included a former…

ATIKU Abubakar has promised a youth and women-inclusive government if elected as Nigeria’s president next month. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate made the promise on Thursday at the party’s campaign rally in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. “We want our youth to be where we are. We are here to bring you up, our youths and our woman – we are your parents – we are bringing you up so that you can succeed us,” Atiku said at the Ebonyi Township Stadium. “We are not going to be there forever. We want you to succeed us. For you to succeed…

THE Minister of Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, revealed this at the 64th session of the State House Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. A breakdown of details from the federal fire service showed that in 2015, 2016 and 2017, properties worth N15.7bn, N1.65bn and N5.18bn were lost in fire incidents. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, Nigerians lost N26.71bn, N16.46bn and N32.12bn respectively to fires. While N3.05bn and N46bn were lost in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Conversely, valuables worth N25.32tn were salvaged from various fire incidents nationwide, Aregbesola revealed. The breakdown is as…

AT least 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship in 2022 alone, the ministry of interior has revealed. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, revealed this on Thursday at the 64th session of the State House Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, at the Aso Rock Villa. According to Belgore, 150 Nigerians renounced their citizenship between 2006 to 2021. In 2022, however, 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship. Meanwhile, the Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, said the massive exodus of Nigerians out of the county in search of greener pastures is fueling high demands for passports. Aregbesola said in…

THE Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to a visa ban which the United States Government plans to put on any Nigerian trying to ‘undermine democracy’ in 2023. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on Wednesday, said that some individuals have already been banned adding that they would be ineligible for the US visa. He stated, “We are committed to supporting and advancing democracy in Nigeria and around the world. Today, I am announcing visa restrictions on specific individuals in Nigeria for undermining the democratic process in a recent Nigerian election.” “Under Section…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in conjunction with the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) Plc, the Bankers Committee and other financial ecosystem stakeholders would launch the National Domestic Card Scheme today. The new domestic card scheme is a robust in-country scheme tailored to address the specific requirements of Nigeria’s payment industry and provide innovative offerings to the Nigerian market and beyond. The scheme would transform the domestic and African payment landscape through the promotion of innovation in the payment, enhancement of interoperability domestically and internationally and improvement in the suite of products and solutions offerings by banks and…

THE Senate on Wednesday failed to consider and pass the N22.7tn Ways and Means restructuring request forwarded to it and the House of Representatives by the President Muhammadu Buhari. President Buhari had sent in the request sometime in December, 2022, for expeditious consideration. News Point Nigeria observed that consideration for it was neither listed on the order paper used for plenary both on Tuesday and Wednesday. Also, it was not mentioned by the Senate Leader, Abdullahi Gobir, who is also the chairman of the special committee set up for that purpose. The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had last Tuesday, declared…

THE US government has announced visa restriction on Nigerians who “undermined” the country’s democracy. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, said that the sanctioned individuals, whose name he did not reveal, would be ineligible for US visas. The top-ranking diplomat also explained that some family members of those barred from the US may also be subjected to the same restriction. He stated, ”We are committed to supporting and advancing democracy in Nigeria and around the world. Today, I am announcing visa restrictions on specific individuals in Nigeria for undermining the democratic…

THE House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited as the sole importer of petrol to urgently ease off queues in filling stations. The House on Wednesday also urged relevant security agencies to fish out oil marketers and other economic saboteurs that may be responsible for the fuel scarcity in the country. These resolutions were reached following a motion of urgent public importance by a legislator, Leke Abejide drawing attention to the lingering fuel crisis across the country. The green chamber mandated the relevant House committees to investigate the matter within 48 hours and deliver a…

THE International Press Centre (IPC) is making a case for bulletproof vests for journalists covering the 2023 elections.  This is according to the Executive Director of the IPC Lanre Arogundade who spoke during the presentation of the outcomes of the organisation’s analysis of trends in reportage of the 2023 elections. At the event held in Abuja on Tuesday, the IPC chief said journalists are victims of election violence, adding that 250 journalists were attacked during the 2019 polls. “I don’t know whether that would be a violation of the Police Act and I don’t know if it is allowed. But…

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has accused Naja’atu Muhammad, a former chieftain of the party, of being a mole. On Saturday, Muhammad, a former senator representing Kano central, said she has resigned from the ruling party and has quit partisan politics. The politician said she was committed to supporting individuals truly interested in addressing the root causes of Nigeria’s challenges. “Quitting party politics at this point in time is one of such steps,” she had said in a statement. “We all recognise that Nigeria is facing many challenges, including insecurity, poverty, inequality, and lack of access to…