Author: Maryam Garba

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has signed some constitution 16 alteration bills into law. The Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase disclosed this on Friday in a statement. One of the bills makes it mandatory for presidents and Governors to submit the names of persons nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within sixty days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or State House of Assembly. It would be recalled that President Buhari was heavily criticized for taking six months to appoint ministers in 2015. Other bills signed by President Buhari delete railway, electricity generation and prison services from the exclusive…

FOUR people are suspected to have been killed when security operatives attached to the convoy of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State clashed with Shi’ite members in Bakin Ruwa Area of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, on Thursday. Details of the incident are sketchy but sources told this newspaper that the clash happened around 4:15pm when the governor visited the community. It was gathered that the convoy came in contact with the Shi’ite members who were performing their weekly procession at Bakin Ruwa along Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway. According to Tasiu Muhammed, an eyewitness, some of the Shi’ite members…

LATEST report from the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) has shown that Nigeria moved to 8th position, moving down two steps from its place in 2022, an indication that the nation’s ranking has improved. The report which is published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism since 2000, and attempts to systematically rank countries according to terrorist activities. According to the index for 2023, a continuous decline in the number of deaths from terrorism has seen Nigeria move down the ladder of nations most impacted by…

THE Lagos High Court sitting in Yaba has awarded the sum of N400m jointly and severally against the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos and two others over the extrajudicial killing of four Ladipo Market traders in July 2001. The others are a former Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Marvelous Akpoyibo (retd) formerly of the Area C command, Surulere and the Divisional Police Officer, Aguda Station, Surulere. The money is to be paid as compensation to the families of the four traders. Justice Olufunke Sule-Amzat who delivered…

BARELY three months to the expiration of the June deadline to commence discontinuation of petrol subsidy, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba has stated that the committees are still working to harmonize discussions on palliative measures. Addressing State House Correspondents on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council meeting, chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, the minister reminded that a committee led by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo as well as the National economic council by Governors has been working on resolving the issue for over a year now. Over the intervening period, Agba stated that…

AT least seven people have been reportedly killed by bandits in a fresh attack on Langsom village in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The latest attack comes barely four days after 17 people were killed by suspected militia herders at Ungwan Wakili community also in Zango Kataf, including a woman and her newborn baby among other victims made up of mostly women and children. The Police authorities are yet to comment on the incident, but the Executive Chairman of Zango Kataf Local Government Area, Francis Sani told Channels Television that the gunmen invaded Langsom village in the…

THE Nigeria Police has recovered 182 illicit arms and 430 ammunitions of various calibres across the nation in its efforts to tackle crimes. The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, saying the arms will be handed over to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW). He said the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, ordered all Commands and Formations to intensify efforts towards decimating the proliferation of illicit arms and ammunition in the country. Baba was said to have also extended additional human and logistic support…

GOVERNOR Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has challenged his predecessors in the State to come out and swear that they have never stolen from the state treasury. He said in an interview in Hausa monitored on a local TV and Radio station that his philosophy in governance was not to steal as he is aware there would be a day of reckoning. He said: “I’m happy that we constructed qualitative roads that would last for years. Not those kinds of roads they’ve constructed in the past which after 2 years, after 2 rainy seasons the roads would be bad.” “We…

FOLLOWING high-end investigations, the Texas Board of Nursing, United States, has announced that it has charged no fewer than 75 nurses to court over issues bordering around falsification of certificates. On the list posted on the website of the board, 43 of the names were identified as nurses of Nigerian origin. In February 18 Nigerian nurses in the US were charged with certificate forgery. The US authorities had said that  list would be updated continuously as the board received additional information about “the fraudulent diploma/transcript scheme.” Checks revealed that the list had grown longer with the number of Nigerian rising…

THE death toll in Saturday’s attack by gunmen suspected to be militia herders on the Ungwan Wakili community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State has risen to 17. This was confirmed to News Point Nigeria by the Executive Chairman of the local government, Francis Sani, who said that two of the injured victims gave up the ghost on Sunday at different hospitals in Kafanchan and Kaduna where they were being treated. Earlier, the Chairman disclosed that 15 persons died after the gunmen attacked the Ungwan Wakili community on Saturday night. However, the latest report shows that two…

NO fewer than nine residents have been kidnapped by gunmen at the Grow Homes Estate along Kuchibiyi in the Kubuwa area of the Federal Capital Territory. The gunmen numbering about 20 were said to have stormed the estate around 11:30 pm on Friday. A resident of the community who identified himself simply as Hassan told our correspondent on the phone that the victims were captured from two separate apartments in the estate. He added that the incident had caused panic in the community. He said,” Yesterday, at about 11:30 pm some gunmen in their large numbers came to carry out…

BANDITS on Friday morning in Karimbu-Kahugu community in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State killed a pastor’s son and kidnapped four members of his family including his wife. The Vice Chairman, Kahugu National Development Association in Lere Local Government Area, Peter Mukaddas said the bandits invaded the community in the early hours of Friday morning, went straight to the pastor’s house and carried out the attack. According to him, the bandits shot the pastor’s son when he resisted them, and thereafter, abducted his wife and three others in the house. Mukaddas called on the state government to intervene and…

THE Kogi State government has threatened to apprehend and prosecute persons and businesses that reject the old naira notes in the state. In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo, said that rejecting the old naira notes is a clear disobedience of the Supreme Court ruling. He said it is unacceptable that some persons and businesses will continue to reject the use of the old naira notes after the Supreme Court ruled that both the old and new naira notes remain legal tenders until December 31, 2023. The Commissioner asked the Kogi people to…

THE United Nations has strongly condemned the reported ambush and brutal killing of more than 30 civilians in Mukdolo village in Ngala Local Government Area in Borno State. In a statement on Thursday, the UN through its Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Matthias Schmale, extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wish the injured who are recuperating a speedy recovery. Several persons were also reportedly injured, and others are still missing following the deadly attack allegedly carried out by an armed group, yet to be identified. According to reports, the victims of this heinous attack were fishermen…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said indicated plans to appeal a court judgement granting the request of two plaintiffs to use their temporary voter cards. The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a statement on Thursday, expressed the intention of the commission to approach the appellate court. “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been served a copy of the judgement delivered today by the Federal High Court, Abuja Division which ordered it to allow two Plaintiffs to vote with their Temporary Voter’s Card (TVC),” the statement read. “The Commission is taking immediate…

THE National leadership of Action Democratic Party (ADP) has dispelled the rumour making the rounds suggesting that, its Governorship Candidate in Kaduna State is stepping down for another political party’s candidate. In a statement issued by its National Secretary, Victor Fingesi, ADP argued that, its Candidate, Hon Sani Sha’aban, who is also an inlaw to President Muhammadu Buhari, is the choice of Kaduna State people to become their next Governor. The party categorically stated that Sani Sha’aban is in the race to win the governorship of Kaduna State as he has not stepped down for any other candidate in the…

EXECUTIVE Director, Commercial, NASCON Allied Industries, Fatima Aliko Dangote, has revealed that women play a pivotal role in the success story of the Dangote Group. Fatima Dangote spoke via zoom to all subsidiaries of Dangote Group while opening the International Women’s Day at the Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana Plant, Kogi State, she said the company provides equal opportunities for men and women, adding that both genders have contributed immensely to the development of the company. She said the company provides opportunities for women to thrive in their various fields, adding that it has many women in the technical fields who…

THREE persons have been abducted by gunmen in Beji town of Bosso local government council of Niger state. They were kidnapped on Tuesday. An investigation revealed that the gunmen entered the town around one o’clock in the morning and started shooting in the air for over two hours to scare the people before executing their nefarious act. The operation took place behind Beji General Hospital which is just a stone’s throw from the main town without any challenge from security agencies or vigilante members. A woman and her two daughters were abducted from their home and taken to an unknown…

AS the world celebrates the 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD), it is important to take a look at women participation in politics. Again, like the gender constitution of the previous and current National Assembly (NASS), Nigeria’s 10th Senate and 10th House of Representatives, which will resume by June is male-dominated, raising concerns about the lip service paid to affirmative action as well as gender and equal opportunity in the West African country. Characteristically, of the new crop of federal lawmakers elected during the just-concluded February 25 presidential and National Assembly polls, only 15 of the 423 legislative seats declared so…

THE Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fix all bugs or glitches in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines before the March 11 governorship and state assemblies’ elections. The Bar also asked INEC to exclude its collation and returning officers with proven cases of misconduct in the February 25 elections from the forthcoming polls. NBA National Publicity Secretary, Akorede Lawal, stated this in an interim report released on Tuesday. The NBA deployed over 1000 INEC accredited observers drawn from the 128 Branches of the Bar to monitor the February 25 polls. “In…