Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, on Monday, said the Federal Government is considering the adoption of 18 years as the entry age for admission into universities and other tertiary institutions of learning. The minister also accused underage students of being responsible for some of the problems being encountered in higher institutions. The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, described the proposition by the Federal Government as a welcome development. “We are in full support. It is the right thing. What the minister said is the correct thing,” ASUU President told our correspondent in…

HEARING on the appeal instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against an interim order of the Kogi State High Court restraining the Commission from arresting, detaining, harassing or prosecuting Yahaya Bello, pending the determination of the substantive originating motion for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights, suffered a setback on Monday, as the Court of Appeal failed to sit. The appropriateness of the siege on Bello’s residence by operatives of the Commission last Wednesday had elicited a  heated debate across the country, particularly with the realisation that there had been a restraining order against such action, which…

THE Kenya Police Service has arrested fleeing Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, as the International Criminal Police Organisation moves to extradite him to Nigeria within the week. Government sources familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter confirmed the development to our correspondent on Sunday night. One of the sources said, “Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, has been arrested by the Kenya Police Service, and he would be extradited to Nigeria this week by INTERPOL.” Another source noted, “As we had said before that Anjarwalla would be extradited, he has…

THE Court of Appeal in Abuja will today (Monday) hear the appeal lodged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against the order of a Kogi State High Court which restrained the anti-graft agency from arresting the immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. The Kogi court, in a ruling on February 9, 2024, restrained the EFCC from “inviting, arresting, detaining, prosecuting” Bello pending the determination of a fundamental rights suit he filed before the court. The anti-graft agency approached the Federal High Court in Abuja last Wednesday to get an arrest warrant while the Federal High Court in Kogi…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Yemi Cardoso says the apex bank’s FX reforms have made the naira the best-performing currency globally. Nigeria’s currency lost massively against major currencies in the past few months. But Cardoso who spoke on Saturday in a briefing on the sidelines of the just-ended World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC, United States, said the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are paying off. “April saw the naira emerge as the best-performing currency globally, supported by bullish sentiment from leading international investment institutions,” he said. “Our FX market is experiencing robust activities with turnover reaching levels…

IN a bid to salvage the dwindling performance of Kano Pillars Football Club in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League season, the Kano State Government has issued a three-game ultimatum to the team’s management and technical crew. The ultimatum, announced by the Acting Commissioner of Youths and Sports, Hon. Hamza Safiyanu Kachako, on Friday, underscores the urgency of the situation. “The recent string of disappointing results by Kano Pillars is of grave concern to the state government,” Kachako said. “We recognize the importance of Kano Pillars to the people of Kano State, and it’s imperative that decisive action be taken…

THE Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has called on the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to thread with caution regarding unconfirmed allegations of corruption against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. The forum averred that, the fact that the case is already in court awaiting determination, the anti-graft agency should not take the laws into their hands, making all efforts to tarnish the image of the former governor despite not being convicted of any offence. “We are worried on whose authority or interest the anti graft agency is carrying out their actions despite the disclosure by…

GOMBE State Government is poised to unlock the full potential of the Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve towards enhancing food security, economic prosperity, and livestock productivity in Gombe State. This indication was given by the Gombe State Coordinator of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project, Professor Umar Bello Abubakar while receiving a delegation from Wawa-Zange Community during a courtesy call in his office. Recognizing the long neglect of animal production in Gombe State, Professor Abubakar highlighted Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s commitment to upscaling productivity and ensuring food security while maximizing the benefits of the reserve, which is one of the largest…

TWO loyalists of the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, including the lawmaker representing the Aboada West Constituency of the state House of Assembly, Sokari Goodboy; have been arrested at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Also arrested by the police was a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state identified as Ezebunwo Ichemati. The duo was allegedly arrested by policemen outside the venue of the National Executive Committee meeting of the PDP in Abuja on Thursday. In a viral video seen by our correspondent, a lady who claims to be a member of Fubara’s media team, said the two…

– Say, Rush To Arrest Yahaya Bello Despite Appeal Court Hearing Shows Political Persecution ANTI-CORRUPTION Civil Society Organisations have advised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission not to desecrate the courts in the course of carrying out its constitutional role of fighting corruption. The CSOs and human rights crusaders cautioned the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies against trampling on the rights of supposed suspects of corruption in order to avoid breaking a law to enforce another law. The activists, who spoke at an emergency press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, noted specifically that the recent public face-off between the EFCC…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has adjusted the previous blunder of September 2015 date in their charges against former Kogi state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, his media office revealed. Recall the EFCC had accused Yahaya Bello of converting over N80bn Kogi State funds to personal use in September 2015, even before he became Governor. According to the media office, in a bid to amend that embarrassing charge, the EFCC approached another court  stating that about N80 billion was now stolen by Bello in February 2016, arguably in less than three weeks after he assumed office for the first…

THE Kwara State Government is set to renovate the indoor sports hall of the state stadium at the cost of N2.06bn to make it an ultra-modern sports facility. The sports hall was constructed under the administration of Brigadier-General Agbazika Innih (retd.) in 1977. Speaking with sports writers in Ilorin on Wednesday, the chairman of the state’s sports commission, Bola Magaji, said previous administrations in the state had neglected the indoor sports hall, adding that it led to its decadence. Magaji, who said that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq was determined to bring the stadium back to its pride, added that the renovation…

GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are currently in a closed-door meeting at the Akwa Ibom governor’s lodge in Abuja. The agenda for the meeting is still unknown at the time of filing this report. However, already present for the meeting are six out of the 11 governors namely; Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta State), Douye Diri (Bayelsa State),  Siminalayi Fubara (Rivers State), Bala Muhammed (Bauchi State), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom State), and Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State. This meeting is happening ahead of the PDP caucus meeting which has been scheduled for 8 pm tonight. The…

PROTESTERS have taken over the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, throwing their support for the Acting National Chairman of the Party, Umar Damagun and the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike. The protesters who display placards with inscriptions pledging support for Wike and Damagun, alleged that some people within the PDP are trying to cause disaffection among the leadership. The protest is happening barely an hour before the meeting of the PDP governors forum, and 24 hours before the PDP national executive committee meeting of the party, where issues regarding the leadership of the PDP…

A FORMER Senator, who represented Kwara South Senatorial District, Rafiu Ibrahim, is dead. The lawmaker died in the early hours of Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 57. Meanwhile, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, said that he received with shock and profound sadness reports of the death of Ibrahim of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The governor sent his heartfelt condolences to the family of the late senator, the people of Ojoku in the Oyun Local Government Area, and the PDP. In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, AbdulRazaq said “this shocking…

IN an unprecedented move, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced further reduction of the price of diesel to from 1200 to 1,000 naira per litre. While rolling out the products, the refinery supplied at a substantially reduced price of N1,200 per litre three weeks ago, representing over 30 per cent reduction from the previous market price of about N1,600 per litre. This significant reduction in the price of diesel, at Dangote Petroleum Refinery, is expected to positively affect all the spheres of the economy and ultimately reduce the high inflation rate in the country. Recall, Aliko Dangote, on Wednesday, in Lagos,…

COMMITTEE of Corner Shop Owners At Federal Housing Estate, Sharada, Kano State has petitioned the State Governor, Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf and the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Dije Aboki over an unlawful attempt to occupy their plots by some persons posing as staff of Federal Housing Authority. The Committee, in a petition signed by it’s Chairman, Alhaji Sani Maikusa, and the Secretary, Alhaji Hafiz Mato, pleaded with the government and stakeholders “to stop this dangerous experiment by the new management of FHA”. According to the acknowledged copies made available to News Point Nigeria on Monday, the arrowhead of…

THE naira has continued its resurgence against the United States dollar, appreciating N1,136/$ at the official market and N1,050/$ at the parallel market at the close of trading activities on Monday. This was as traders predicted the dollar’s fall to below N1,000 before the end of the week. At the official foreign exchange market, data from the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, revealed that the naira surged by 6.1 per cent or N69 from N1,205/$ recorded on Friday to N1,136/$ on Monday. The total daily turnover dropped slightly to $251.60m on Monday, from…

THE Ganduje Ward Executive Committee and Dawakin Tofa Local Government Executive Committee have vehemently denounced the purported suspension of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Ganduje. Ganduje Ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State had suspended the APC chief. But in a joint press conference on the same day,  the Ganduje Ward Chairman Ahmed Koko said: “Those who addressed the press conference were sponsored by the NNPP state government, and from the record of the party at the ward, local government, and state, are not card-carrying members of the APC”. Koko insisted…

NIGERIA’s inflation rate jumped to 33.20% in March 2024 compared to February 2024 headline inflation rate which was 31.70%. This was according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday. “Looking at the movement, the March 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.50% points when compared to the February 2024 headline inflation rate,” said the NBS. “On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.16% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2023, which was 22.04%. “On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2024 was…