Author: Bala Muhammad

AS part of its determined efforts to stave off the possibility of having a 10th National Assembly leadership that would be outside of its design, the national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC has begun moves to ensure the emergence of a party-sanctioned leadership. Consequently, the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party has summoned an emergency meeting of its Senators and House members-elect to develop a common template for the emergence of the new leadership. The notice for the meeting which was sent out Friday night was titled “Invitation to all APC Senators-elect and Members of the…

JOHNSON Fatoki, the Ogun State collation agent for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the February 25 election, has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Fatoki joined the ruling party ahead of next week’s governorship and House of Assembly elections. His defection added to the growing list of opposition parties’ leaders who have crossed to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s camp in what pundits have described as “political transfer market.” Apart from Fatoki, other chieftains of the PDP who dumped joined APC, include Segun Seriki, Otunba Femi Osifade, Alhaji Saula Adegunwa, Ralph Olaosebikan and Mr Tola Mebude.…

A NIGERIAN woman, Joy Jeff, who has been wanted in Italy since 2010 has been flown from Abuja back to Rome where she has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for crimes including running a prostitution ring, Italian police said on Wednesday. The 48-year-old was one of the few women on Italy’s most-wanted list, police said in a statement, describing her as a prominent figure in the Nigerian mafia. The extradition was facilitated by a treaty signed by Nigeria and Italy in 2020. She was arrested in Nigeria on June 4, 2022, on an international warrant issued by Italy,…

FORMER governor of Bauchi State, Malam Isa Yuguda has berated his former mentee, incumbent Governor Bala Mohammed over the number of doctors serving in general hospitals and primary healthcare centres. The former governor blamed his successors, Muhammed Abubakar and Bala Mohammed the dwindling number of doctors serving the in State hospitals, saying that only 18 doctors are serving over seven million people in the State. Former governor Yuguda was addressing the press at his residence in Bauchi during the weekend where he also blamed governor Muhammed for abandoning 22 hospitals and schools he built during his tenure. He said: “Only…

THE Nigerian Army on Monday said it has begun probing the incident of a soldier who allegedly killed his colleagues and himself at Forward Operations Base Rabbah, Sokoto State. In a statement, the Director of Army Public Relations Officer, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, said the incident occurred Sunday evening. According to him, the troops were deployed for internal security operations in the area. Onyema stated that the circumstances leading to the incident could not be immediately ascertained, adding that the soldier who killed his colleagues also shot himself immediately. “The Nigerian Army has instituted investigations into the unfortunate incident of…

YOBE state government has lifted a ban on the riding of motorbike across seven local government councils of the state following decade of Boko Haram insurgency. Special Adviser on Security Affairs to Governor Mai Mala Buni, Brigadier General Dahiru Abdulsalam, disclosed this in a press statement signed and made available to journalists in Damaturu the state capital. According to him, the motorbikes are to operate between 6am and 6pm daily, not to be used for commercial purposes ‘Achaba’ and there will be no conveyance of passengers on motorbikes. “Only a rider will be allowed without any other person on the…

THE Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Umar Mustapha, has announced his withdrawal from the race to support the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aishatu Ahmad Binani. A few days to the presidential election, Mustapha had accused the LP of working against him, ditching its presidential candidate, Peter Obi and calling on his supporters to work for the then APC standard bearer, Bola Ahmad Tinubu instead. Addressing an APC stakeholders meeting on Sunday, Mustapha also known as Otumba, said he had finally decided to step down for Binani, with whom he said he shared the…

THE Nigeria Police Force says it has paid all allowances of police officers deployed for the presidential and National Assembly elections. Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Saturday, debunked allegations that the Force had yet to pay its staff on election duties. Adejobi described it as astonishing to read reports that some police officers have been denied the payment of their accrued allowances, adding that such delay has not gone down well with the Force. “The Nigeria Police Force wishes to clear the air on the alleged non-payment of elections allowances to police personnel who…

THE Governor of Kogi State has responded to allegations of money laundering involving the state government levelled against his nephew and others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In December 2022, there were reports that the EFCC had arraigned some persons on allegations that they were laundering monies belonging to the Kogi State Government. Though the government rebutted the claims, last month, the Commission arraigned a suspect identified as Ali Bello, a nephew of the Kogi governor, and four others before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Reacting to the EFCC’s allegations and arrests on Channels Television’s live…

THE Federal Government has summoned the Burkina Faso envoy to Nigeria, Pascal Gouba, over alleged murder of 16 Nigerians who were on a pilgrimage to Kaolak, Senegal over a month ago. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, made this known on Thursday in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media, HMOS, Ibrahim Aliyu. Recall that the Jam’iyyatu Ansariddeen Attijaniyya of Nigeria revealed that 16 of its members were shot dead allegedly by the Burkinabe soldiers on patrol. They were reportedly on their way to the home country of their leader, Sheikhul-islam Ibrahim Niasse in…

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the declaration and return of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu as president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, the PDP asked INEC to immediately withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Tinubu and cancel the presidential election declaration in line with its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022. According to the party, INEC in declaring the APC presidential candidate as the winner, acted contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of…

THE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, is of the opinion that the party’s candidate in the recently concluded presidential election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmes Tinubu, is indeed the people’s clear choice.  Addressing a news conference, Senator Adamu said the party is out to share the spirit of the moment with Nigerians. He added that the essence of the press conference is to show appreciation to Nigerians having won the February 25th presidential election. The APC chairman saluted the free and fair decision of Nigerians, he also applauded president Buhari for standing by the party and…

POLITICAL and community leaders in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state in Katsina have continued to pour into his private residence in Daura to express their happiness, following the emergence of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the country’s next president. Receiving Governor Aminu Bello Masari and the Emir of Daura, Dr. Umar Faruk Umar, who led members of their cabinets on separate visits on Wednesday, President Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, reiterated what he had often said about the President-elect that “Bola Tinubu truly believes in Nigeria and…

PETER Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, has broken his silence after the election he lost to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival. Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 6,984,520 to emerge second. while Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Tinubu President-elect and handed over his certificate of return to him. There have been protests in Abuja, while the opposition parties, including Labour Party and PDP, called for the cancellation of the election over alleged rigging.…

THE presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has won the presidential election in Borno State.  Borno is the home state of vice presidential candidate of the APC, Senator Kashim Shettima. Tinubu was declared the winner of the election at the state collation center on Tuesday. Of the 27 local government areas, where the election was held Saturday, Tinubu won 24 and lost the 4 to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The state collation officer, Prof. Jude Rabo, announced the result of the election at Sir Kashim Ibrahim College of…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared all National Assembly elections in Sokoto state inconclusive. News Point Nigeria learnt that the elections were marred by violence and over voting among other irregularities. There are three Senatorial and 11 House of Representatives’ seats in the state. News Point Nigeria gathered that Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was leading Senator Ibrahim Danbaba Dambuwa of the APC in Sokoto South Senatorial before it was declared inconclusive. According to the results, Tambuwal scored 87,850 votes while Dambuwa secured 79,991 votes. The returning officer, Professor Shehu Usman Gulumbe declared the election Inconclusive due to over…

ATIKU Abubakar, the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been declared the winner of the presidential election in Sokoto. The election was however not a walk in the park as Atiku defeated his closest rival Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with just over 3000 votes. Atiku polled 288,679 votes as against 285,444 which was polled by Tinubu. Following in a great distance was the LP candidate who polled 6,568 votes and the NNPP with 1300 votes. Meanwhile, Atiku also won the presidential election in Kaduna State, sweeping the polls with 554,360 votes, beating Tinubu who polled 399,293 votes.…

THE presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has emerged as the winner in Zamfara State. The collation officer for Zamfara State presidential election, Professor Kashim Shehu of Federal University of Birnin Kebbi, announced the results in Gusau, the state capital, in the early hours of Tuesday. Shehu noted that the APC’s Tinubu won 12 out of 14 Local Government Areas in the state, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party won two. According to the results announced at the presidential election collation centre, Tinubu polled 298,396 votes. The former Lagos State governor was closely followed…

FORMER Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari has been declared the winner of Zamfara West Senatorial in the just concluded Saturday 25th February polls. The Collation Officer for Zamfara West, Professor Rufus Teniola of the Federal University Gusau, declared All Progressive Congress (APC) Abdulaziz Yari winner with a total of 147,346 to defeat his closest rival Bello S. Fagon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)who polled 55,83 votes. In the result collated, the candidate of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) polled 363 while Labour Party scored 111 The Senatorial District has six local governments comprising Gummi, Bukkuyum, Anka, Talata…

MONDAY Market in Maiduguri, the biggest in Borno State, has been gutted by fire. News Point Nigeria gathered that the fire started around 2am on Sunday and has spread to different parts of the market. According to a source and shop owner, who spoke to News Point Nigeria via telephone, the fire service are still struggling to completely put off the fire. “It’s almost five hours now and the fire service are doing their best to put off the inferno”. More later…