Author: Farouk Abbas

A COALITION of 51 of anti-corruption groups has formally petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking the immediate arrest and prosecution of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the former Governor of Kano State and current national chairman of the All Progressives Congress. The petition, dated November 4, 2024, and acknowledged by the EFCC on November 7, 2024, outlines numerous allegations of bribery and misappropriation against Ganduje. Ganduje’s tenure as governor from 2015 to 2023 has been marred by accusations of corruption, including a recent fraud charge filed by the Kano State government. This charge alleges that he conspired to divert over…

THE national grid has collapsed for the second time in three days, leading to blackouts in several parts of the country.  A check on the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org) showed that power generation dropped to zero megawatts at 11:30 a.m., affecting generation companies across the country. Some electricity distribution companies corroborated this on their social media platforms. “Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 07 November 2024 at 11:29Hrs affecting supply within our network,” the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) serving parts of Lagos wrote on X. “Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our…

THREE oil marketers, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals. The marketers, in a joint counter affidavit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, and dated November 5, 2024, a response to an originating summon filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, argued that granting the application of refinery would spell doom for the country’s oil sector. They emphasised that the plan to monopolise the oil sector is a recipe for disaster in the country. Dangote refinery in its originating summon…

A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission  (EFCC)’s lawyer, Abbas Mohammed, to confirm and report back to the court if an alleged misleading report on the court’s proceedings was from the Commission’s website. Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order after the defence lawyers in the money laundering trial of Ali Bello and his co-defendants accused the EFCC of publishing untrue accounts of what transpired in court on Tuesday on its website against their clients. Abubakar Aliyu, SAN, and Nureini Jimoh, SAN, who appeared for the defendants in the alleged N3 billion fraud,…

KOGI state Governor, Alhaji Usman Ododo on Wednesday mourned the passing of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, describing it as ‘a huge loss to the country as a whole’. In a press statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kogi State, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, on Wednesday, Ododo condoled with President Bola Tinubu and the Army on the untimely death of the army chief. The governor said the departure of the gallant and brave Army Chief was particularly sad at a time the fight against insecurity in Nigeria had gathered momentum, noting that the late…

THE Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, his Science, Technology, and Innovation counterpart, Uche Nnaji, and Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, are some of the high-profile government functionaries expected to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Renewable Energy on Wednesday. The Committee, chaired by the member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Anambra State, Afam Ogene is investigating the utilisation of over $2bn investment and grants for the development of renewable energy sources in Nigeria from 2015 till date. The committee argued last week that despite the huge grants and investment in the sector, the power supply…

THE Inspector General Of Police, Kayode Egbetokun said he has summoned senior officers including all DCs, CID, and Heads of Investigation Units over the welfare of younger protesters identified to be minors, while they were in police detention. The development comes following a nationwide outrage over the arraignment of the minors at the Federal High Court on Friday. The protesters, who were charged with treason, looked malnourished when they appeared in court three months after they were arrested during the August hunger protest. However, a statement released by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi in Abuja on Monday…

OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested a former Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, for alleged diversion of N1.3 trillion 13% derivation fund from the federation account between 2015 and 2023. An EFCC source confirmed the former governor’s arrest to News Point Nigeria on Monday. Okowa was arrested on Monday, November 4, 2024, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when he reported at the Port Harcourt Directorate of the EFCC on the invitation of investigators handling his matter. The former governor was alleged to have failed to render accounts of the funds as well as another…

THE Court of Appeal in Abuja has discharged and acquitted a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, from his conviction of false assets declaration by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). The conviction of Onnoghen was thrown out by the appellate court following the resolution of the issues that led to his trial and conviction. Former President Muhammadu Buhari had on January 25, 2019, about 29 days before the presidential election, suspended Onnoghen from office as the CJN and swore in the next most senior jurist of the Supreme Court, Justice Tanko Muhammad, to take over the…

NIGERIA’s major oil marketers have significantly benefited from the Federal Government’s recent policy to eliminate subsidies on petroleum products. This change has allowed marketers to operate in a more market-driven environment, leading to substantial financial gains. In the first nine months of 2024, four prominent oil marketers reported significant revenue gain, earning a total sum of N1.3tn from the sales of petroleum products to Nigerians. The oil companies include Total Energies Marketing Nigeria, MRS Oil Nigeria, Eterna Plc, and Conoil Plc. Despite the considerable costs involved in fuel imports, the oil firms spent N833.86bn on the importation of petroleum products…

VICE-PRESIDENT Kashim Shettima, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, Minister of Budget & Economic Planning, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Kelvin Oye, will lead conversation on economy and security, as the 20th edition of All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) starts on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. In a statement on Sunday and signed by the President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Eze Anaba and the General Secretary, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren, the…

FINALLY, Dangote Refinery has disclosed the price of its petrol, saying that it sells at N990 per litre in trucks and N960 per litre into ships. The disclosure follows the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) claim of importing the products at cheaper rates compared to that of Dangote. The marketers had in an earlier interview claimed that they are buying at cheaper rates abroad while calling on Dangote Refinery to engage stakeholders. But in its reaction, the refinery said that it is only substandard products that can be…

POLICE operatives have arrested 130 suspects for cybercrimes and hacking. The suspects include 17 Nigerians and 113 foreign nationals, Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said on Sunday. Adejobi, in a statement, said their activities threaten national security. “This strategic operation was conducted through a coordinated raid on a building at the Next Cash and Carry area of Jahi, Abuja, where the suspects were reportedly using computers and other sophisticated devices to facilitate criminal activities,” he said. “The operation which was led by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police for Zone 7 Headquarters, Abuja, AIG Benneth Igweh, on Saturday, 3rd November 2024, comprised…

KADUNA State has taken the top position as the state with the highest internally generated revenue in the northern region, generating a whopping N62.48 billion in 2023. This is a significant increase from the previous year when it generated N58 billion. The report was released recently by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), highlighting the resilience of certain states in revenue generation and economic challenges. Speaking on the revenue feat, the Executive Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service Jerry Adams, said Governor Uba Sani’s led administration policy of financial inclusion and widening the tax net as well as…

THE Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions on Saturday revealed that the Federal Government only released one out of the four months withheld salaries. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Saturday said that it had released the withheld salaries for which the university workers embarked on strike. The unions, under JAC, began an indefinite strike on Monday due to four months of unpaid salaries, leading to a shutdown of university activities nationwide. SSANU National President Mohammed Ibrahim noted that top university officials,…

THE Nigerian Correctional Service has dismissed the report that suspects arraigned in Court over the bad governance protests were kept in its facilities. The NCoS said there was no iota of truth in the reports as the suspects were rejected when the Service was approached for such. A statement by Public Relations Officer of the Service, Assistant Controller of Corrections, Umar Abubakar, made available to News Point Nigeria, said the NCoS Act 2019 does not permit juvenile to be kept in facilities meant for adults. “There are misleading reports making the rounds in some sections of the media purporting that…

THE Nigerian Police Force (NPF) has described the fainting of some minor suspects arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday for their participation in the August 2024 End Bad Governance protest, as “deliberate and scripted”. News Point Nigeria reports that the police’s reaction comes after some suspects brought in for arraignment fainted before Justice Obiora Egwuatu. The suspects, 75 in number between the ages of 12 and 15, were charged with 10 counts of terrorism, an attempt to overthrow the government, and alleged mutiny over their participation in the nationwide protest. They were allegedly arrested on August…

THE Federal Government has defended foreign medical trips by political leaders, arguing that people are free to seek treatment in any part of the world. This is according to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Pate. “Don’t conflate the quality of our healthcare system and what it has to offer and the choices that individuals can make for various reasons. Some may choose because they’ve got a provider, or they have other things,” Pate said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria. “Tourism is something that everybody has a right to…

JUSTICE Obiora Egwuatu has granted bail to about 67 minors to the tune of N10m each out of the 76 that were arraigned for participating in the August 2024 End Bad Governance protests.  Those granted bail, who are below 15 years, are expected to present one surety who must be a civil servant. Meanwhile, another 87 who are adults, are currently being arraigned on the same charges. Those undergoing arraignment, are majorly from Kaduna State. They are facing a ten-count charge bordering on alleged treason, and conspiracy to commit a felony with intent to destabilize Nigeria, which is contrary to…

Says, It’s Witch-Hunt Taken Too Far’ A FORMER Nigerian Ambassador to Botwana, Isaac Onuh, has faulted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over its handling of the alleged money laundering case against former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. In a news conference on Friday in Lokoja, Onuh described Bello’s trial as an “unfortunate witch-hunt”. Onuh, an All Progressives Congress stalwart, urged the EFCC to immediately halt the alleged “macabre dance” being employed against the former governor under the pretense of fighting corruption. He said that the EFCC had yet to provide ample evidence to substantiate its allegations of financial…