Author: Maryam Garba

THE Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has again given the assurance that the reconstruction work on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway will be completed by the first quarter of 2024, which is approximately in nine months time. The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mahmuda Mamman, gave the assurance on Friday during an inspection of the road and other ongoing federal road projects in Kaduna State. Mamman took a tour of the 375.9 km of the dual carriageway way beginning from the Abuja end through Kaduna to Zaria and extending further to Kano all in the North-West zone. During the inspection tour,…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria has asked Deposit Money Banks and Other Financial Institutions in the country to increase monitoring of transactions with businesses and persons in and from Cameroon, Croatia and Vietnam. This was according to a circular referenced: FPR/AML/PUB/BOF/001/029, which was issued, on Thursday, by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation, Mr Chibuzo Efobi. According to CBN, Nigerian banks and other financial institutions need to watch transactions with those countries because they had been recently placed on a grey list by the Financial Action Task Force. The Financial Action Task Force is an international body whose purpose is…

NIGERIA has been exempted from the list of 12 African countries that are set to receive the 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine. The Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organisation, and the United Nations Children’s Fund disclosed this in a joint press statement on Wednesday. “Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, killing nearly half a million children under the age of five every year,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing. The Mosquirix (RTS,S) vaccine, developed by British pharmaceutical giant GSK, has already been administered to more than 1.7 million children in three African…

THE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Tuesday, revealed the new principal officers of the 10th House of Representatives. They include Julius Ihonvbere (APC – Edo, House Majority Leader), Halims Abdullahi (APC – Kogi, Deputy Majority Leader), Bello Kumo (APC – Gombe, Chief Whip), Adewunmi Onanuga (APC – Ogun, Deputy Chief Whip). Abbas also read a letter from the Minority Caucus which detailed the names of the principal officers. The letter named Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Minority Leader), Aliyu Madaki (NNPP, Kano, Deputy Minority Leader), Ali Isah (PDP, Gombe, Minority Whip), and George Ebizimawo (Labour Party, Deputy Minority…

A FORMER Governor of Zamfara State, Ahmad Yarima, says that President Bola Tinubu has asked him to make efforts to ensure that there is stability in the bandit-torn North-West state. Yerima, who spoke with State House correspondents after a private meeting with Tinubu on Monday, said that the crisis will soon be over with his intervention as a father in the state. “The issue of Zamfara, I am now a father in Zamfara and even Mr President in my interaction this (Monday) afternoon has requested me to put my best to ensure that there is stability in the state and…

THE Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. (Dr) George Akume CON has called on Ministerial Special and Technical Assistants who served during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to rally Nigerians in support of the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to succeed in the socioeconomic and political development of Nigeria. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation made the call Tuesday when ex-ministerial aides under the aegis of the Network of former Ministerial Aides (NETMA) paid him a courtesy visit in his office. According to him, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu means very well…

IMMEDIATE past minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has stated that former President Muhammadu Buhari approved her appointment as World Bank Alternate Executive Director following the Bank’s request for the nomination sent to Nigeria in October 2022. Mr. Yunusa Abdullahi, Media Adviser Mrs Ahmed, provided the clarification in a statement made available to News Point Nigeria Monday morning. According to him, former President Buhari, gave the approval for the minister’s nomination in April, before leaving office in May. He said, however, that the April approval was with the understanding that Mrs. Ahmed would not resume in Washington until the end…

THE immediate past Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed has landed a World Bank job as an Alternate Executive Director. Baring last minute hitches, she will resume at the bank’s headquarters in Washington on July 10. However, there appears to be pushback from some interests who alleged that the former minister did not follow due process. An online medium, quoted Washington sources as saying that Mrs. Ahmed circumvented appointment procedures by nominating herself . The report also had it that the World Bank had requested for the nominations of three economists for an AED position, several months before the end…

THE Defence Headquarters has directed all Senior officers with “seniority on commission “above Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 39 to proceed on voluntary retirement. This development comes on the heels of the appointment of the new service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu. The notice of resignation was made known in a statement from the Defence Headquarters signed on Monday by Maj-Gen. Y. Yayaha for the Chief of Defence Staff. “I am directed to respectfully request services to direct all officers with seniority on commission above that of Nigerian Defence Academy(NDA) regular course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement…

THE internal wrangling within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State seems to be over as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu appeared at a public function with two of his predecessors in a spectacle rare as hen’s teeth. Sanwo-Olu, Akinwunmi Ambode and Babatunde Fashola met at a reception organised in honour of President Bola Tinubu on Thursday at the Lagos House in the Marina area of the state. Sanwo-Olu’s spokesman, Gboyega Akosile, shared the refreshing sight in a tweet, stressing that this is the first time the trio will meet in over four years. Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999,…

SENATOR Orji Kalu has said that contrary to certain claims making the rounds, there was no cheating in the election that saw Senator Godswill Akpabio emerge as President of the Senate. Kalu’s comment comes on the heels of claims that some Senators under the umbrella of the ruling All Progressives Congress, might be trying to cross-carpet following the outcome of the June 13 election that saw Akpabio become Senate President of the 10th National Assembly. Akpabio had trounced Senator Abdul’aziz Yari to emerge the new Senate President, with the former Akwa Ibom governor being returned elected after scoring 63 votes…

THE Police in Kaduna State have arrested five hundred and three (503) suspects for various offences ranging from banditry, armed cattle rustling,culpable homicide, vandalization of rail tracks and other related crimes. Among the suspects include one Ismail Mohammed of Maijere Village Saminaka in Lere local government area of the state who kidnapped and later killed his brother, Kabiru Mohammed after collecting N120,000 as ransom from the family. Parading the suspects at the command’s headquarter , the spokesman of Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Muhammed Jalige told reporters that the suspects were arrested between May to June 2023. He explains that…

AS Nigerians join their counterparts from across the world to celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir, President Bola Tinubu has asked the citizens to face their future with renewed hope and vigour. The President made the call in a statement on Tuesday. “As we embrace the present challenges, we must face the future with vigour and Renewed Hope with the confidence that our tomorrow shall be better and brighter,” he said. Eid-Al-Kabir is a festival of sacrifice and total obedience to Allah as exemplified in the exceptional action of Prophet Ibrahim AS. n his Sallah message, Tinubu said there is no greater sense…

THE Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered all police convoys, henceforth, to obey all traffic regulations with immediate effect. IGP Egbetokun issued this directive on Monday at the meeting with the Mobile Police Squadron and commanders at the Force headquarters in Abuja. According to him, it was important that his men lead by example and be held accountable before the law. ” Let me end this speech by reminding you that those who keep the peace must be the epitome of peace. Those whose duty is to enforce the laws of the land must themselves respect and obey…

OVER two million Muslim pilgrims crowded Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat on Tuesday, the climax of a potentially record-breaking hajj pilgrimage held in fierce June heat. As dawn broke, groups of worshippers recited Qurán verses and the pilgrimage recitations on the rocky rise, where the Prophet Muhammad SAW is believed to have given his final sermon. The ritual is the high point of the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, that officials say could be the biggest on record after three years of Covid restrictions. More than 2.5 million pilgrims were expected to join the hajj, one of…

GARBA Shehu, a former spokesperson for ex-President Muhammadu Buhari has explained that the former Nigerian leader put petrol subsidy removal and the unification of the country’s foreign exchange rates on hold “for a better time”. Shehu made this known in a statement on Monday exactly four weeks after President Bola Tinubu took over from Buhari on May 29, 2023 and announced petrol subsidy removal, with a litre of the vital commodity jumping from N184 to over N500, amid attendant economic pain. “Removing subsidies for the Naira and PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) was cued and put on hold. Look for example…

THE Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed on Monday announced his voluntary resignation. Rasheed disclosed this in an interaction with our correspondent and noted that he would be returning to the Bayero University Kano to continue his job as a lecturer. News Point Nigeria reports that Rasheed was appointed as the NUC boss seven years ago during the tenure of the erstwhile minister of education, Adamu Adamu. Under his tenure as NUC executive secretary, the commission approved the highest number of private universities. The university system also witnessed the highest number of industrial actions. More details…

BARRING any last minute change, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will return to the country on Tuesday, a day before the Sallah celebrations. A source close to the Presidency confirmed this to News Point Nigeria on Sunday, saying the President would spend the Sallah holiday in Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub. According to the source, an advance team has already been dispatched ahead of the President’s arrival. On Friday, Tinubu concluded his official trip to Paris, during which he participated in the summit for ‘A New Global Financing Pact’ hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The President used the opportunity of…

THE Federal Government said 125 stranded Nigerians have departed Sudan to Nigeria on Saturday morning. Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocol, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), disclosed this on Saturday. In a message, he said Tarco Airline aircraft: ST-TAL B737-300 “Left Port Sudan International Airport today, 24th June 2023, at 10:45am. local time, with 125 Nigerian nationals (Evacuees).” Recall in May, News Point Nigeria had reported that, about 160 women claiming to be Nigerians working in Sudan have no passports to fly back to the country. The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha…

THE Department of State Services told the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Tuesday that suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, will flee the country if granted bail. The Attorney General of the Federation also supported the argument of the DSS, describing Emefiele as a “flight risk”. The former head of the apex bank is challenging his detention by the DSS and denying him seeing his family members and lawyers. This newspaper reports that Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu and subsequently detained by the DSS on Saturday, June 10, 2023. At the resumption of hearing on…