Author: Bala Muhammad

THE Court of Appeal in Abuja has sacked Musa Iliyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and reinstated Yusuf Umar Datti of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency election in Kano State. The three-man panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye held that Datti’s appeal had merit and allowed it. The panel further averred that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the appellant’s resignation on the date of his party primary, adding that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied as the issue of membership of a political…

THE Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has fixed Monday for hearing in the appeal of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) against his All Progressive Congress (APC) rival, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna. The governor had filed an appeal to challenge the nullification of his election by the Kano Election Petition Tribunal. This newspaper reports that a three-man panel of judges led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023, by declaring 165,663 of his votes invalid because “they were not signed or stamped by INEC”. Yusuf had described the tribunal’s verdict as “unfair”…

AT least, 123 schools have reportedly been closed down completely in Katsina State due to activities of bandits and other criminal elements terrorizing citizens of the State. Similarly, a total of 58 healthcare facilities across the state not even the dispensaries are not working according to the State Government. The Special Advisor to Governor Dikko Radda on Victims of Banditry and IDPs, Sa’idu Ibrahim Danja disclosed this on Thursday in Katsina at the launch of the Project Steering Committee for the International Organization For Migration’s “Conflict Mitigation and Community Reconciliation in Northwest Nigeria”. “Access to justice is no longer there…

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has welcomed the intervention of President Bola Tinubu into the Rivers State crisis, calling on all parties to sheathe their sword. This was contained in a communique issued by the governors on Tuesday evening after they met at the Oyo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja to discuss the crisis in the oil-rich state and other national issues. “The PDP Governors were alarmed at the recent developments in Rivers State and welcome the intervention of Mr. President to bring the crises to an end,” the communique signed by the Chairman of the Forum and…

THE Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has named the Dangote Cement Plc as the best Contributing Employer for the year 2022 in Kogi State. In a letter seen by this reporter, the Fund said the award is in recognition of the company’s promotion of “human resource development with a view to generating a pool of indigenous training manpower sufficient to meet the need of the economy of Kogi State and the nation in general.” Similarly, in their subsequent visit to the Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana Manager ITF Area Office Lokoja, Mr. Sokoto A. Simon said the award was also in recognition…

THE Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Mesfin Tasew has provided an insight into the involvement of the East African Airline in the setting up of Nigeria Air, saying the airline almost withdrew but the government insisted it should continue with the process. This is the first time the Ethiopian Airlines leadership would speak on the controversy over the airline which dogged the last minutes of the immediate past administration. Former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had floated the airline on May 27 which did not see the light of the day as it was later discovered…

THE Sokoto State Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election of Aminu Tambuwal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected Senator for Sokoto South Senatorial District. Abdullahi Danbaba of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had filed a petition challenging the victory of Tambuwal praying that the Tribunal declare the election inconclusive for not complying substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act. Danbaba had also asked the Tribunal to order a re-election in 28 polling units where he alleged election did not hold during the February and April substantive and supplementary polls. The Tribunal, in a unanimous…

THE Wazirin Fika, Alhaji Adamu Fika, is dead, the Danburan of Fika, Alhaji Idris Adamu Kukuri, confirmed the news to this newspaper in a telephone chat last night. He said details of the burial arrangement of the deceased would be announced after consultations with the Emir of Fika, Alhaji Muhammadu Abali. However, family sources and acquaintances said the elder statesman reportedly died last night at the age 90 while being brought back to Nigeria from the United Kingdom where he was taken for treatment. Hassan Gimba Ahmed, who is very close to the family of the deceased, said, “He was…

THE Adamawa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has fixed October 28, 2023, to deliver judgment on the suit challenging the election of Governor ahmadu Fintiri. News Point Nigeria reports that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Senator Aishatu Binani Dahiru had filed a petition against the declaration of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the March 2023 gov election. In addition to the charges of extensive violations of the electoral law and fraudulent voting practices, APC and Binani in their petition had contended that the Tribunal should validate Hudu Yunusa Ari’s declaration…

THE Federal Government has won its case against Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited, which sought enforcement of $11 billion debt in its favour. The development comes after five years of intense legal battle. A UK court on Monday quashed the enforcement of the judgment on the grounds that it was fraudulently obtained. In a ruling, Robin Knowles, the Justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s prayer that the judgment should be quashed. Nigeria had argued that it was a victim of bribery and deception in the controversial gas deal. The P&ID controversy dates back to…

NIGERIAN Navy Ship BEECROFT patrol team has intercepted 11 Stowaways aboard GWANGZHOU HIGHWAY PANAMA ship enroute Ghana. According to a statement by the Base Information Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship BEECROFT, H.A Collins, on Thursday, the individuals were intercepted on Tuesday at about 7pm during a routine patrol of Navy Ship BEECROFT patrol team. He said that the Western Regional Control Centre (WRCC) was immediately informed and prompted the vessel to halt within Lagos anchorage. “Initially, 4 stowaways were apprehended from the stern of the vessel.   However, information provided by these individuals revealed the presence of additional stowaways inside…

GUNMEN have abducted the wife and two children of the lawmaker representing Ipaiye/Malete/Olooru of Moro Local Government in the Kwara State House of Assembly. The abductors, our correspondent gathered, stormed the residence of the lawmaker around 1am on Monday. According to a community leader in Shao, “the abductors came in their numbers shooting sporadically before whisking the victims away into the nearby bush”. “Their whereabouts have remained unknown although one of them who contacted the family was yet to make a demand for ransom, saying he was not with the others in the forest yet to harmonise the agreed price.…

BANDITS have killed a villager who delivered a ransom in Kaduna, leaving the residents of Kidandan village, located in the Giwa Local Government Area of the State in shock. The victim, Abdullahi Haruna, was a member of the First Aid of Fitiyanul Islam. He volunteered to deliver the ransom to secure the release of his neighbour held by the bandits. The incident occurred on Wednesday around 2:00pm at a location known as Sabo Layi Kidandan. A vigilante member, who requested anonymity, confirmed the incident to this newspaper on Thursday. Similarly, a youth leader in the community who simply identified as…

THERE is no evidence that the Chicago State University’s academic certificates of President Bola Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2023 presidential election were forged, the BBC’s Global Disinformation Team reports. This newspaper had earlier reported that the university released Tinubu’s academic records, which went viral on social media but were tagged as fake by some opposition party leaders and members, especially his main rivals, Labour Party’s Peter Obi and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar. The quest to release Tinubu’s academic documents led to the case filed by Atiku at the US court, where he…

BANDITS invaded Anguwar Dandali in the Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State killing four people and injuring five. Confirming the incident the village head of the area, Mallam Sunusi Yusuf told our correspondent that the suspected bandits arrived around 10.30 pm on Friday night and started shooting sporadically in the air. He explained that the bandits had succeeded in shooting 9 people and abducted 5 before the arrival of security operatives who engaged them in a gun duel. “Out of the nine people shot, 4 instantly died while 5 sustained serious injuries. “Due to the superior power of the…

THE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Ganduje and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) have visited former President Muhammadu Buhari at his residence in Daura, Katsina State. The visit was, according to Ganduje, to show solidarity with the former President and to congratulate him on Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Day. Apart from paying homage, the visit was to introduce the newly reconstituted NWC of the ruling party to Buhari, Ganduje added. Ganduje, who expressed excitement with the winning degree recorded by the party in recent tribunal rulings believes the APC will also win the upcoming governorship elections…

IN Arabic, the name Najeeb means the Distinguished, the Noble or the Outstanding. The Arabic dictionary says if you’re seeking a name with inherent star power, Najeeb will make for a lovely fit. It is the masculine respelling of the Arabic favorite, Najib, which stands for the Distinguished. Yesterday, Friday, 29/09/2023, I had reason to write on one of the 21 Chief Executives at the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCDA, that was relieved of his duty by Minister Nyesom Wike. As of the time of writing the article, I hadn’t any inkling about his name or the company he headed.…

BINTA Zubairu, Justice of the Court of Appeal, has said judges are wrongly accused of delay in dispensing justice. Speaking in Zaria, Kaduna State, during a reception organised on the occasion of her elevation as an Appeal Court judge, Zubairu said judges work in a team with the prosecutors, lawyers and others and as such should not be blamed for the delay in the dispensation of justice. “We don’t talk and nobody speaks for us; speedy dispensation of justice requires the prompt efforts of police, prosecution, assembling of exhibits and the lawyers,” she said. The justice added that sometimes, the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu asserted, on Wednesday in New York, that African nations will no longer accept a situation in which human rights advocacy is used by wealthy and powerful nations to stop developing economies from dealing decisively with malign actors who illicitly siphon and smuggle out the continent’s vast mineral resources while smuggling in western-made weapons, which enrich the wealthiest economies in the world at the parasitic expense of African stability and wealth creation. The President said this while meeting with United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, at his UN Headquarters Office in New York City. “We are facing the great…

NIGERIA requires N21 trillion to address the country’s housing deficit, according to Vice President Kashim Shettima. He was speaking during the ground-breaking of a five-hundred-unit housing estate to be constructed by the Sokoto State government. In a statement by Olusola Abiola, the Director in the Office of the Vice President, Senator Shettima notes that Nigeria has a housing deficit of twenty-eight million houses. He, however, commended Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State for his efforts at tackling the housing needs of his people. The project located in the Wamakko Local Government Area of the state will cost the state government…