Author: Farouk Abbas

A MEMBER of the House of Representatives, Alex Ikwechegh, who assaulted an e-hailing (Bolt) driver who went to deliver a package to him has tendered a public apology. Ikwechegh admitted that his behaviour did not meet the standards expected of a public official. He issued the public apology on Monday, saying, “As a public servant, I recognise the trust placed in me by my constituents and the Nigerian people. My behaviour fell short of the standards expected of me, and for that, I am truly sorry.” He said he regretted the harm and embarrassment his actions had caused Abuwatseya, his…

A HISTORIC lawsuit filed by 19 state governors challenging the constitutionality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has gained the support of no less than 5,000 lawyers. The Judiciary Watchdogs, a group of lawyers from the 36 states of the federation, commended the governors for their courageous stand. According to the lawyers, who have been vocal against corruption in Nigeria, the EFCC’s enabling act was enacted without input from state assemblies, violating the principles of federalism and state autonomy. In a statement signed by Co-National Convener, Barr Real S. Dennis, the lawyers said the governors were on track…

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested a lawmaker for assaulting a driver in the nation’s capital. Police spokesperson for the Command, Josephine Adeh, confirmed that Alex Mascot Ikwechegh “is at the Maitama Police Station undergoing questioning”. In a statement on Monday, the Command said the Bolt driver Stephen Abuwatseya reported the matter to the Command. In a now-viral video, the House of Representatives member was seen slapping the Bolt driver. Ikwechegh represents Aba North & South Federal Constituency in the Green Chamber on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). A furious Ikwechegh was captured…

SEVEN persons have been confirmed killed in a building collapse at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The acting Director General of the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Ibrahim Sabo, disclosed this when he inspected the site of the collapse along the Airport Road of the nation’s capital on Sunday. He explained that the incident on Saturday was due to some persons trying to scavage remnants of materials from the building which was being demolished by the Federal Capital Development Control due to the ingenuity of land papers. He also confirmed that two persons are currently receiving treatment at the…

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says it is collaborating with the Office of the National Security Adviser to repair the vandalised Shiroro-Kaduna line that led to reduction of bulk electricity to Kaduna, Kano and other major cities in the north. In a statement, the General Manager, Public Affairs of TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said TCN is working diligently to restore bulk power supply as quickly as possible despite prevailing security challenges. “Engr. (Mrs) Nafisatu Ali, in her address at the hearing, said that the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, which supplies power to Northern Nigeria, was vandalized by insurgents and in response,…

AS fuel consumption plummets nationwide due to soaring prices, oil marketers have expressed concerns over significant losses, with around 10,000 oil dealers about to shut down. Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority indicate that fuel consumption dropped to 4.5 million litres per day in August 2024, down from 60 million litres per day in May 2023—a staggering 92 per cent decline. The data also show that only 16 out of the 36 states received fuel from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in August, leading to widespread shortage. Since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of…

THE Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Salam, has admitted that the committee has not concluded their investigation into the alleged missing funds in the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. A statement made available to News Point Nigeria on Saturday revealed that “The committee already announced that billions of naira are missing from the agency’s accounts in seven years, between 2015 and 2022.” This newspaper reports that the executives of NUPRC have been summoned by the House of Representatives, given the purported discovery of an alleged massive financial hole in the organisation. The statement…

IN a dramatic turn of events, a Federal High Court in Kano has sacked all 44 chairmanship and councillorship candidates of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) for Saturday’s local government elections. The ruling was delivered on Friday by Justice Simon Amobeda following a case filed by Engineer Muhammad Babayo and a faction of the NNPP against the party’s leadership. Justice Amobeda ruled that the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) should accept a new list of candidates submitted by the faction led by the recognised State Chairman, Dalhatu Shehu Usman, in accordance with the party’s constitution. “The defendant is…

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says President Bola Tinubu decided to remove fuel subsidy and not an advice from the body. News Point Nigeria reports that IMF’s African Region Director, Abebe Selassie said this on Friday at a briefing on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, US. “The decision was a domestic one. It was President Tinubu’s decision. We don’t have programmes in Nigeria. Our role is limited to regular dialogue, as we have with other nations like Japan or the UK,” he said. President Tinubu during his inauguration in May 2023 declared…

THE Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development has approved bid by the Kogi State Government to build an International Airport in Zariagi. The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, said the approval was conveyed in a letter by the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, dated 9th October, 2024. He said the administration of Usman Ododo was committed to the timely completion of the project with strict adherence to regulatory standards, saying an airport in Kogi State would serve 10 other states and reduce traffic on the Lokoja -Abuja road. It will also decongest the traffic…

VICE President Kashim Shettima will no longer represent Nigeria at the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa as planned. The trip was cancelled after “a foreign object hit his plane during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York,” the Presidency revealed in a statement Thursday night. Therefore, a delegation led by the Minister of the Environment, Balarabe Lawal, will now represent Nigeria at the biennial event. The statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Bayo Onanuga, is titled ‘Cockpit windscreen of VP Shettima’s plane damaged at JFK airport, ministerial delegation to represent…

THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said the blackout affecting parts of Northern Nigeria will persist due to security challenges hindering repairs on critical transmission lines. Despite efforts to restore electricity through alternative means, the TCN said the situation will not be fully resolved anytime soon. The ongoing blackout, which has lasted over four days, initially stemmed from vandalism of the Shiroro-Mando transmission line, which provided bulk electricity to the northern states. To mitigate the impact, the TCN diverted electricity through the Ugwuaji-Apir 330-kilovolt (kV) double-circuit transmission line. However, a tripping incident on this alternative line further worsened the…

IN order to ensure persons and families displaced by flood are not exposed to water-borne diseases, the Governor of Kogi State, Alh. Ahmed Usman Ododo has begun the drilling of boreholes at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps. According to the state government, this will also help to ameliorate the hardship the displaced persons go through while in search of water. The Commissioner for Information in the state, Kingsley Fanwo, who briefed newsmen on Thursday, said Governor Ododo directed the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) to immediately begin the borehole drilling in the  (IDP) camps to ensure sufficient…

Case Adjourned To November 14, 20 For Response To Summons Or Arraignment THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Thursday, sought for adjournment of hearing in its fresh charge against the immediate-past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello and two others, to November 14, 2024. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who appeared for the EFCC at the FCT High Court, said at the hearing that at the last adjourned date, the court issued a Public Summons against the 1st defendant directing that same be published and that the charge be pasted. Justice Maryann E. Anenih, however, interjected, stating that she did not…

THE Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started supplying Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, to some oil marketers directly without recourse to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. It was gathered that while more oil marketers were intensifying efforts to buy the product directly from the plant, others were importing the commodity, as hundreds of millions of litres of imported PMS should hit Nigeria’s shores in two weeks’ time. Recall that this newspaper reported on Monday that no fewer than four vessels carrying imported PMS arrived at seaports situated along the nation’s borders between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20.…

A FORMER national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, has said that the party leadership has resolved that the North-Central will produce a candidate to take over as the substantive national chairman of the party in November, replacing Umar Damgunm who has been acting in that capacity since the ouster of Iyorchia Ayu by a court judgement in 2023. Ologbondiyan said it is a consensus conclusion of the PDP leaders who met in Abuja on Tuesday and postponed the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting originally scheduled to hold on October 24 to November 28, 2024,…

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors forum has rescheduled its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, originally scheduled for October 24, 2024, to November 28, 2024. The decision was reached following the consultative meeting of its various organs, which was held on Tuesday at the Bauchi State Governors’ Lodge, Tatari Ali House, Asokoro. A communiqué issued and signed by the Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed after the meeting, said the meeting postponement is to ensure that the party goes into the forthcoming Ondo gubernatorial elections scheduled for November 16, 2024, with the unity and…

THE Senate has announced a six-man ad-hoc committee to investigate recent allegations levelled against Sen. Ashiru Oyelola representing Kwara South. The committee is expected to summon the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to explain the recent allegations. It would be recalled that the NDLEA had days ago alleged that Senator Ashiru’s house in Ilorin, Kwara State, was raided, and illicit drugs were found. The accusation followed contributions by Senator Ashiru on the floor of the Senate on the 15th of October, during a debate on the Bill to establish the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation, where the…

THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says its 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines 1 & 2 tripped due to a fault, leading to a power outage in several parts of northern Nigeria. In a statement on Tuesday, the TCN General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah said the development “forced power outage affecting the communities in the North-east, North-west and parts of North-central”. The affected states are; Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Niger, Kogi, Yobe, Gombe and parts of Kwara and Benue States. “At approximately 4:53 am, the Ugwuaji–Markurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped and 243 MW on that line…

FOLLOWING the suit filed by the 16 state governments contesting the constitutionality of the laws that established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the country, the Supreme Court is set to hear their request today. The governors and the EFCC are eagerly awaiting the judgment of the apex court, which would confirm the legality or otherwise of the anti-graft commission. The state governments, in their suit, had argued that the Supreme Court, in Dr Joseph Nwobike Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria, held that it was a United Nations Convention against corruption that was reduced into the EFCC Establishment Act…