THE presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Wednesday expressed bewilderment, following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call to the President-elect, Bola Tinubu. In the call, Blinken is said to have emphasised his continued commitment to further strengthening the US-Nigeria relationship with the incoming administration. However, Atiku, who emerged as the runner-up in the February 25 presidential election, described Tinubu’s recognition by the American government official as a contradiction of the US’ assessment of the vote held three months ago. “I am in disbelief that @SecBlinken called Tinubu, a contradiction to the publicly stated position…
Author: Bala Muhammad
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THE President-elect, Bola Tinubu, is opposing the application by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, for a live broadcast of the proceedings of the election petition. In response to the application on Wednesday, Tinubu and the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, through the team of their lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun said the application is an abuse of court process. They asked the presidential election petition court to dismiss the application, arguing that the relief demanded by the applicants is not such that the court could grant it. Besides describing the application as frivolous, they said…
THE National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) will charge intending pilgrims an additional $300 (N139,350), barring any last minute change. This is coming despite the outcry over despite the N3 million hajj fare fixed by the commission for 2023 hajj. The Saudi Arabian authorities have allocated 95,000 slots to Nigeria for 2023 hajj. A total of 75,000 pilgrims will go through the states, while the remaining 20,000 will go through private tour operators. Credible sources inside the commission said the $250 increment was part of the agreement reached between the hajj commission and the four Nigerian airlines that signed the…
IN what appeared a pledge to embark on wage increase in the middle of the year, President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has vowed to give more than a minimum wage to Nigerian workers, promising to give them a “living wage”. “In the Nigeria I shall have the honour and privilege to lead from May 29, workers will have more than a minimum wage. You will have a living wage to have a decent life and provide for your families,” Tinubu stated. The President-elect made the pledge in a statement issued Monday in Abuja on the occasion of this year’s Workers’ Day…
THE Commandant General (CG) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has summoned the Adamawa State Commandant of the Corps, Muhammad Bello, to the Corps’ National Headquarters to explain the role he played in the just concluded election in the state. A statement by the Corps spokesman, Commandant Olusola Odumosu, on Wednesday, said this is in connection to the controversy surrounding the just concluded Adamawa State governorship supplementary election where the Corps was alleged of complicity along with other security agencies. The Corps’ helmsman directed the State Commandant to immediately hand over affairs of the…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ikra Aliyu Bilbis winner of Zamfara Central Senatorial District in the last Saturday, Supplementary election. He polled 102, 866 votes to defeat his closest opponent Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa of the All Progressives, APC, who scored 91, 216 votes in the election. Professor Kabiru Abdullahi of the Federal University, Gusau while announcing the results, said Ikra Bilbis Aliyu having scored the highest numbers of votes and satisfied the requirement of the law and returned elected. Ikra Bilbis Aliyu a former minister of Information and…
SUSPECTED Boko Haram terrorists have killed 10 people in Buni Gari town in Gujba Local Government area of Yobe State. The incident happened on Thursday evening when one Abba Sheti Gawi, 40, was reportedly kidnapped and killed by the terrorists after he went to Gangatilo area to cut wood. Sources said friends and relatives of the victim searched for him in the area but they were ambushed and killed by the insurgents. “For now, including the first victim, over 10 people have lost their lives. We have seen the military and other security personnel are going to the area for…
GOVERNOR of Sokoto State and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Sokoto South Senatorial Elections, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, CFR has sent a strongly worded petition to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the listing of polling units where elections had been concluded and results declared for the April 15, 2023 supplementary elections. In a petition to INEC written on his behalf by his lawyer, Mr. S.I. Ameh SAN, Governor Tambuwal stated as follows: (1) Consequent upon the Commission’s publication of the areas slated for the April 15th 2023 rerun across the country, our Client’s attention was…
POLICE in Nasarawa State have arrested one inmate that escaped during last year’s attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja. Police Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, disclose this in a statement on Sunday, identifying the escapee inmate as 24-year-old Salisu Buhari, a native of Nasarawa State. Also arrested alongside Buhari during a sting operation in Nasarawa Local Government Area of the state is 27-year-old Zubairu Ali. Both suspects were nabbed last Thursday for motorcycle theft, a police spokesman stated. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects are responsible for most motorcycle snatching and theft in Nasarawa LGA and its environs.…
TROOPS of the Nigerian Army have neutralized a total of forty-eight terrorists in various operations across the nation. The director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami who disclosed this to journalists at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja today, said at least nine hundred and seventy-four (974) terrorists and their families have also surrendered to troops within the last two weeks. The troops also recovered N2.3million in the North-East Zone, the military spokesman revealed. Danmadami said troops in the past 2 weeks, both kinetic and non-kinetic operations were conducted in the various theatres of operations, with significant outcomes recorded.…
THE 14th Emir of Kano, Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said Nigeria has never been this divided since the Civil War of 1967 to 1970. He said the country, because of the elections, was now “dangerously divided along ethnic and religious lines”, adding that it had put the integrity of public institutions in question. “The people now have suspicions about policies, policing, judiciary and the election umpire,” he said. The Khalifa, who is also the leader of the Tijjaniyya Order in Nigeria, made the remark on Tuesday at the third Nigerian Leadership Colloquium in honour of the senior pastor of…
North Central Deserves Slot, Deputy Speaker Is My Beloved Son – Osoba THE plot by the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to mobilize their numbers and other minority parties for relevance ahead of the inuaguration of the 10th National Assembly, especially in the House of Representatives, appears to have suffered a major setback. Two leading figures in the nation’s main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike and former governor of Delta State, James Ibori yesterday, threw their weights behind the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase. As both PDP stalwarts…
THE Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) commonly known as petrol should sell for between N360 and N400 after the subsidy regime. PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo made this known to newsmen on the sidelines of the association’s National Executive Council meeting which was held in Abuja on Tuesday. Asked what the price per litre of petrol should be after the removal of subsidy, Osifo said, “Today, the sole importer of PMS into Nigeria is the NNPC. The NNPC is using an exchange rate of the CBN which gives…
A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Lagos has fixed April 20, 2023 to rule on an application filed by Kogi State seeking to vacate an interim order of the court freezing 14 properties linked to the state governor. Justice Nicholas Oweibo fixed the date on Tuesday after taking submissions from the Kogi State Government’s counsel, Abdulwahab Mohammed, SAN, and the counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN. On February 22, the court had granted the interim forfeiture order following an ex parte motion to confiscate 14 properties and firms in Lagos, Abuja, and the…
THE House of Representatives’ will on April 11, 2023, grill ministers and other heads of ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government as well as oil companies and banks over the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil valued at $2.4bn. The House’ Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Loss of Over $2.4bn in Revenue from Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Export in 2015 Including All Crude Oil Exports and Sales by Nigeria from 2014 Till Date is handling the probe. The committee, in a notice to the invitees on Monday, also…
THE pioneer chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto state, Usman Suleiman Danmadamin Isa, is dead. He died in the late hours of Friday. Isa was said to have been ill for a brief period. Before his death, he served as Commissioner for Religious Affairs. Danmadamin Isa was also Commissioner for Rural Development. He was the chairman of APC between 2015 and 2018 when he dumped the party and joined People’s Democratic Party (PDP) shortly after the defection of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Before venturing into politics, he was a successful businessman and contractor. He owned a furniture…
KEBBI State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, on Friday visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria’s political capital. Although the details of the visit remain sketchy as of the time of filing this reports, the governor’s visit to the President comes days after the electoral umpire declared a March 18 governorship election held in the North-Western State inconclusive. Bagudu, the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum made up of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, will end his eight-year two-term by May 29, 2023. He endorsed the APC candidate in the state, Nasiru Idris, in the March 18 election.…
NO fewer than 25 people lost their lives in Udubo along Hadeja-Potiskum road in Gamawa Local Government Area of Bauchi State following a fatal crash. Ten others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the lone crash involving a Toyota Hummer Bus. The crash occurred on Thursday at 4.30 pm. The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corp, Bauchi State, Yusuf Abdullahi, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Friday morning. He said that a total of 35 people comprising 19 male adults, 11 female adults, two male children and three female children. According to him, the driver of the Hummer Bus…
IN spite of lingering court case, the Federal Government has insisted the National Carrier, Nigeria Air, will take to the sky before May 29, 2023. Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, gave the assurances during the National Aviation Stakeholders Forum 2023, on Thursday. He said the Federal Government is taking necessary measures to overcome the hurdles introduced by the indigenous airlines that went to court to stop the process. The minister described as unfair the action of the local airlines, adding that the Buhari government had supported local airlines more than all previous governments. He accused them of constituting a…
THE leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress on Wednesday directed all workers to protest at all the offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria nationwide starting next week over the current cash crunch in the country. The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, who gave the directive at an ongoing press briefing at Labour House in Abuja, said the directive became imperative following the expiration of a one-week ultimatum given to the apex bank to make cash available for Nigerians. More details in a while…