Author: Khadija Abubakar

THE Nigeria Police, on Wednesday, arrested and detained three personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for shooting two students of Senior Secondary School, Life Camp, within the Jabi and Gwarinpa areas of the Federal Capital Territory. This newspaper reports that the two students shot by the NSCDC operatives are currently receiving treatment at the Gwarinpa Hospital. Following the shooting, some irate high school students vandalised three patrol vehicles belonging to the NSCDC in protest against the attack on their injured colleagues. Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred around 11.20am on Wednesday. The NSCDC personnel attached to…

THE Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the old N200, N500, N1000 notes should continue to co-exist with the new notes till further notice. The apex court ruled that both old and new notes should continue to remain legal tender until the Federal Government put a process in place for its replacement or redesign after due consultation with relevant stakeholders. The seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro gave the ruling following an application by the Federal Government seeking asking the court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes to remain in circulation as a legal tender.…

THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has named Bwari, Kuje and Abaji as the area councils that are worst hit by kidnapping. Director of Administration and Finance, FCTA Security Services Department, Ebele Molokwu, made this known during the end of the year media briefing on the activities of the department. She said major kidnapping incidents in the territory were usually from those councils even though there are some isolated cases in the others area councils. She said the councils share boarder with some states noted for kidnapping, adding that when the bandits came to strike they will run back to…

GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, are currently meeting in Abuja. The meeting, which is being hosted by the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, was convened to discuss issues affecting the party’s administration among other issues. A source familiar with the development said: “The governors are concerned about recent court decisions, especially in the case of governorship elections in Nassarawa and Plateau States. “They are also likely to discuss a way out of the impasse over the position of National Secretary, following a recent court pronouncement.”

THE Federal Government on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes to remain in circulation as a legal tender. The government also wants the court to lift its March 3 order that the old naira notes should remain alongside the new notes till December 31. In March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had said old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes would remain legal tender till December 31, 2023. It said the extension of time is necessary and it has not been able to print the volume of new notes that would…

NIGERIA’s inflation rate jumped to 27.33% in October 2023 as prices of food stuffs continue to increase in the aftermath of the removal of fuel subsidy by the President Bola Tinubu administration. This was according to the October 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday. The CPI, which measures the changes in the prices of goods and services, rose from 26.72% to 27.33% showing an increase of 0.61% points. “In October 2023, the headline inflation rate increased to 27.33% relative to the September 2023 headline inflation rate which was…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria has extended the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes indefinitely . The apex bank’s Director, Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin in a statement titled, “CBN To Allow Old Design Naira Banknotes As Legal Tender, Ad Infinitum” on Tuesday, said the decision is line with international best practices and to forestall a repeat of earlier experiences implementing the policy. This newspaper reports that the CBN introduced the redesigned N200, N500 and N1.000 denominations in October 2022 and certain deadlines were set for the old design of these denominations to cease as legal tenders. The…

JUSTICE Yusuf Halilu of an FCT, Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday revoked the bail earlier granted a former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and one of the defendants in the trial of over an alleged fraudulent diversion of public fund to the tune of N109.5million. The defendant, Geoffrey Olusegun Akindele’s bail was revoked by the judge following his non-appearance in court for continuation of trial. Mr Akindele, who is the second defendant in the case marked, CR/199/2022, and Idris are standing trial alongside Mohammed Kudu Usman and Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited. The Economic and financial crimes commission, EFCC,…

THE Minister of State for Police Affairs, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, has revealed that the police high command will execute President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the withdrawal of police personnel from VIP security duties, and developing a community policing strategy, amongst others. The minister made the development known on Monday during a two-day management retreat at the Ministry of Police Affairs. While noting that the Nigeria Police Force and the Ministry of Police Affairs were at a critical juncture, and currently struggling with the consequences of decades of neglect that have hindered their ability to fulfil their constitutional mandate, she added that…

FORMER President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the All Progressives Congress governorship candidates in Imo and Kogi states – Senator Hope Uzodimma and Usman Ododo, respectively on their victory at last Saturday’s election. The Independent National Electoral Commission affirmed Uzodimma’s re-election, having won in all the 27 local government areas of the state. The incumbent Governor clinched a second term in office after scoring a total of 540,008 votes, the commission stated. In Kogi, the candidate of the APC, Usman Ododo, was declared the winner of the election by the electoral body with 446,237 votes. In a statement by the spokesperson…

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on Sunday, brokered a peace deal between the Management of TotalEnergies, operator of the NNPC / TotalEnergies JV, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). At the meeting, according to a statement by NNPCL spokesman, Olufemi Soneye, the unions agreed to suspend ongoing industrial action leading to immediate restoration of 275, 000 barrels of oil per day production. In a communiqué issued at the end of a marathon negotiation session chaired by Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Executive Vice President, Upstream, NNPC Ltd.,…

THERE are high expectations as the Court of Appeal has fixed Wednesday, 15th November for the hearing in the appeal filed by Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, who is fighting to reject the majority judgement of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lafia which ruled in favour of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), David Ombugadu. This was contained in the notice of hearing issued to the parties in the case by Nasiru Alhassan, Electronic Desk Officer of the court and obtained by Daily Trust in Lafia on Sunday. The notice, which reads said, “Hearing in the…

WITH 48 hours to the off-cycle governorship polls, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has deployed a new commissioner of police to Imo State. In a statement released on Thursday, Force spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi announced that Danjuma Aboki had been deployed as the new police commissioner in Imo state by the IGP. Elections are scheduled to be held in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States. While the incumbent Imo governor, Hope Uzodimma and his Bayelsa counterpart, Senator Duoye Diri are seeking re-election on November 11, outgoing Kogi governor, Yahaya Bello, has anointed Ahmed Ododo as the candidate for his ruling…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again assured Nigerians of sufficient naira notes in the country, and warned against panic withdrawals. The apex bank, in a statement on Wednesday, reiterated that old and new naira notes remained legal tender. “For the avoidance of doubt, while reiterating that there are sufficient banknotes across the country for all normal economic activity, we wish to state unambiguously that every banknote issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria remains legal tender and should not be rejected by anyone, as stipulated in Section 20(5) of the CBN Act, 2007,” said CBN spokesman, Isa AbdulMumin.…

THE Honorable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to the timely establishment of a UNESCO Category 2 Institute for Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in Nigeria. The Minister stated this during a bilateral meeting with the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, on Tuesday November 7, 2023, on the sidelines of UNESCO’s 42nd General Conference, in Paris, France. Nigeria’s pledge to establish and host the Institute emerged from the 2022 UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week, hosted by Nigeria, in October 2022, in Abuja, and was endorsed…

GUNMEN suspected to be kidnappers on Monday night invaded Gandu community located about two kilometres away from the Federal University of Lafia, Nasarawa State, and shot a 300-level student of Sociology Department in the institution. Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen who also kidnapped a popular businessman during the attack, stormed the community around 8.30pm. An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that the incident has caused fear among residents of the area, adding that many students had remained indoors since the incident occurred. The eyewitness said, “The student was shot by the bandits and was immediately rushed to…

THE father of Muhammad Babandede, the former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service; the Magajin Rafin Hadejia, Alhaji Muhammadu Babandede Sarkiki, has died. He died last night in Egypt after a prolonged illness. According to a statement released by the General Manager, Muhasa Radio and Television, Hajiya Aishatu Sule, Monday, the date and time for the burial will be announced when the corpse arrives Nigeria from Cairo. He was married and blessed with children, many grandchildren and great grand children.

TRAGEDY was averted when an aircraft which had Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, on board crash-landed near Ibadan Airport in Oyo State. Information had earlier filtered in that the aircraft crashed, but it was later discovered that it crash-landed. Details of the incident were still sketchy as of press time but this newspaper gathered that it happened on Friday night. This newspaper cannot state if the minister or those on board sustained any injury in the incident, which happened after the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMET) issued travel warning based on hazy weather. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had also…

NIGERIA and France have signed an agreement worth about $600m under the investment in digital and creative enterprise, I-DICE in Abuja. According to both countries, the purpose of the programme, which is an initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria, is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the digital technology and creative industry. During the signing ceremony, both Ms. Catherine Colonna, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, emphasized that the program would have a positive impact on young Nigerians and contribute to the creation of sustainable employment opportunities.…

THE Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar on Thursday conferred awards on some prominent Nigerians. The recipients included a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mahmoud Yayale Ahmed and Etsu Nupe, Yahya Abubakar who bagged Sultan Bello Award for Good Governance and Public Service Award respectively. Others were the late Sheikh Isiyaka Rabiu of Kano State and Sheikh Isa Talatan Mafara who received the Usman bin Fordiyo award for exemplary leadership. The Registrar of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede and Professor Khadija Nuhu received Sultan Sa’ad Award for Peace and Nana Asma’u Award respectively. Sultan…