Author: News Point Nigeria

SOME Nigerian banks did not open their doors for Saturday banking to accept deposits due to the euphoria of Christmas. However, some other banks opened but not all their branches. For instance Zenith Bank operated on Saturday and did accept deposits, Access Bank opened in some designated branches, while Keystone Bank did not operate on Saturday. “We are not going to open on Saturday, but our branch at Commercial Road, Apapa, will open,” said one of the Lagos staff of Access Bank. It could be recalled that some Nigerian banks commenced Saturday banking towards the end of October 2022, as…

DOCTOR, you recently attended an exclusive fellowship in the US, how has that improved your outlook on the health sector globally? The Nelson Mandela Fellowship was a major learning curve and milestone in my medical pursuit and health advocacy. Through the course of the program, I explored various ways technology is leveraged to improve treatment and medical practice. It’s always fulfilling to explore new and more efficient ways to implement medical practice or treatment, and it has broadened my scope of global health discourse and progress. I gained a better outlook and understanding of the regulations and policies that aid…

THE Nigerian Army has constructed and donated toilet facilities and solar powered boreholes to communities in Ekinrin-Adde, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi. The four projects constructed include toilet facilities and solar powered motorised boreholes at Oja Oba Central Market, Community Comprehensive College, C&S Owobode and Ekinrin-Adde Townhall. Speaking at the official inauguration on Saturday in Ekinrin-Adde, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, said that the gesture was part of the Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) special intervention projects being executed by the Nigerian Army across the country. Represented by the Commander, Headquarters Command Army Records (CAR),…

ARMED gunmen have allegedly killed the village Head of Mulo community in Mashegu local government area of Niger State, Malam Usman Garba in the custody of his kidnappers. NEWS POINT NIGERIA gathered that the village head including three other members of the community was kidnapped by the terrorists on Thursday. Garba was said to have been killed a little distance after his abduction and his corpse discarded while the terrorists continued on their journey. Confirming the development, the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Services, Emmanuel Bagna Umar during a security briefing with journalists on Friday lamented the gruesome…

HAVING stock up their shops so as to meet the demands of buyers and make a good profit, Fish Traders in Enugu are not happy with the poor sales level this festive period. According to the traders, this year’s sale is the lowest recorded during the festive period in many years. The chairman of the Akwata Market Fish Traders Association, Alhaji Kaka Modu Waziri, who spoke to VOA Hausa Service said, the fish traders are at a loss as there are stock up stores of fish with little or no buyers. “This is the lowest sales recorded in many years…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari said he lost two children to Sickle Cell with his first wife, Safinatu, whom he married in 1971. President Buhari made the revelation in a documentary shown, on Friday night, at a private dinner organised by his family and associates, to celebrate his 80th birthday, tagged “Celebrating A Patriot, a Leader, an Elder Statesman”. According to him, it was the reason he insisted his second wife, Aisha Buhari must carry an AA genotype, to avoid losing more children to sickle cell being an AS himself. The President added that contrary to widely-held opinion in some quarters, he…

THE Director, Tinubu Support Groups Northwest, Hon Baffa Babba Dan’Agundi, has on behalf of the Northwest Support Groups, felicitated Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state on his 73rd Birthday Anniversary. Dan’Agundi registered his congratulatory message in a statement, signed by the director and made available to NEWS POINT NIGERIA on Saturday. The statement reads in pat: “We are delighted to be among those celebrating with you on this special day. Your humbleness, doggedness, foresight and leadership style have no doubt distinguished you as an exemplary leader among your peers.” Dan’Agundi while describing Gov Ganduje as indeed, a true politician…

The representative of Sokoto State, Nura Abdullahi and that of Yobe State, Aishatu Abdulmutallib have emerged overall winners of the 37th National Qur’anic Recitation Competition held in Gusau, Zamfara State. The winner from the male category, Nura Abdullahi was crowned as hero of the year by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar. In the same vein, Aishatu Abdulmutallib of the female category was crowned as heroine of the year by the wife of the Zamfara State Governor, Hajiya Aisha Mattawalle at the closing ceremony of the competition in Gusau on Saturday. Announcing the result, the Chairman of the panel,…

THE National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has pledged to explore and exploit all avenues in enhancing the effectiveness of its service delivery to its customers in the realisation of its statutory core value of putting People First. NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, made this declaration when he gave an opening remark at the maiden edition of the agency’s Customer Engagement event held at the eGovernment Training Centre, Kubwa, Abuja. The DG who was represented by the agency’s Acting Director, e-Government Development and Regulations department, Mr. Bernard Ewah stated that getting feedback from customers on the activities of the…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari sends hearty congratulations and best wishes to Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Governor of Kano State on his birthday. The Governor marks his 73rd birthday on the 25th of December and his wife, Professor Hafsat Ganduje marks her own on the 28th. In a statement on Saturday, Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, President Buhari commends the Governor for his leadership and administrative acumen and wishes him a happy birthday. The President also salutes Governor Ganduje for his work on security and infrastructure, describing him as the builder of “a secure…

Displaced women and girls waiting for livelihood support at the Dalori IDPs camp in Maiduguri, Borno state.

FORMER Morocco international Mustapha Hadji has refused to say whether he will appeal a five-year ban for forging an A-standard coaching licence. The 51-year-old was found guilty of falsifying the licence. Hadji was suspended from all football-related activities by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) disciplinary committee. The former Coventry City and Aston Villa midfielder has refused to say whether he will appeal. According to BBC Sports Africa, Hadji, the 1998 African Player of the Year, appeared for Morocco at two World Cups in 1994 and 1998, and then served as his nation’s assistant coach from 2014 until earlier this…

FOUR students of the Kogi State Polytechnic in Lokoja have reportedly been kidnapped by gunmen along the Akunnu-Ajowa road in Akoko north LGA of Ondo state. It is understood that the students were returning home for the Christmas holidays on Friday when they were kidnapped. According to Punch, Muri Agboola, Ikare Area commander of Ondo state police, confirmed the incident. Agboola said he has deployed his men to comb the forests along the Akunnu-Ajowa Akoko road to rescue the abducted students. Efforts by NEWS POINT NIGERIA to reach Funmi Odunlami, the state police spokesperson, on the matter proved abortive. Odunlami…

HOSTS Egypt were paired with heavyweights Nigeria and Senegal in the U20 African Nations Cup after the draw was made by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Friday. The three powerhouses were placed in Group A, which also includes outsiders Mozambique. Group B includes Uganda, Central Africa, South Sudan and Congo while Group C features Tunisia, Benin, Zambia and Gambia. The tournament will take place in Egypt from 18 February to 12 March. Egypt missed the previous edition in Mauritania in 2021, having withdrawn from the qualifiers after being hit with more than a dozen COVID-19 infections. The Pharaohs…

No fewer than 35 basketball and American football players are set to embark on further training and study abroad, courtesy of Ejike Ugboaja Foundation (EUF). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that over 100 participants took part in the 2022 edition of the Annual EUF Basketball talent hunt and American football open trials from Wednesday to Friday in Abuja. The three-day event which took place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Package B, showcased basketball and American football talents from across the 36 states of the federation and FCT. Ejike Ugboaja, the President of EUF told NAN that the…

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that regardless of any intimidation by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, he will emerge Nigeria’s next president in 2023. NEWS POINT NIGERIA had reported how the Rivers State government sealed off the campaign office of Atiku based on Executive Orders 21 and 22. The office was said to have been shut for producing noisy political activities in residential areas without approval from the State government. But reacting through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Frank Shaibu, Atiku said the action will not deter him. “Let…

THE Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has dismissed a suit the immediate past Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, filed to stop the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, from contesting the 2023 presidential election. Delivering judgment on Friday, December 23, Justice Zainab Abubakar held that the suit was statute-barred, having been filed outside the 14 days period prescribed by Section 285(9) of the 1999 Constitution. Nwajiuba, a chieftain of the APC and one of the presidential aspirants in the party’s primary conducted to elect its candidate for the 2023 presidential election, failed to…

THE immediate former Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba, has been redeployed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Usman Alkali Baba, along with six other Commissioners of Police (CPs). A statement issued on Saturday by the spokesman of the police, Mr Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that Mr Mba is now the CP for Border Patrol Force in Abuja. The police officer left the post after he was nominated for the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute, between February and December 2022, holds a Masters’ Degree in Law and was enlisted into the security agency in 1992. Also,…

THE National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has raised Third Party insurance cover for motorists from N5,000 to N15,000 yearly, with effect from January 2023. The approval is contained in a circular signed by the Director, Policy and Regulation, NAICOM, Leo Akah and addressed to insurance companies. Numbered NAICOM/DPR/CIR/46/2022, the circular dated Dec. 22, 2022, was titled: New Premium Rate for Motor Insurance, “Pursuant to the exercise of its function of approving rates of insurance premium under Section 7 of NAICOM Act 1997 and other extant laws, the Commission hereby issues this circular on the new motor insurance premium rates effective from…

To understand the new politics stance and other pro nationals of recent times, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. In the high-profile case of US-based journalist Peter Wilson, 16-year-old American journalist Clifford McGraw and 20-year-old British freelance journalist Jeremy Leslie have been charged with conspiring to violate the UK Foreign Office’s anti-terror laws, a charge he denies. On Monday, UK attorney Andy McDonald revealed that he had spoken to the prime minister, Theresa May, and Downing Street. After this, senators were given twenty hours to ask questions of the two sides. Anthony…