Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani

THE Senate has begun the screening of seven ministerial nominees named last Wednesday by President Bola Tinubu. The screening exercised was held at the red chamber on Wednesday after it was postponed on Tuesday. The upper legislative house began with Nentawe Yilwatda, the nominee appointed to replace Betta Edu as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. The Senate suspended its rule to admit the ministerial nominees. Other appointees for screening are Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu nominated as the Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi nominated as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Jumoke Oduwole nominated as the Minister of…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu believes the naira for crude transactions will stabilise the oil sector. Tinubu said this on Tuesday in a review meeting with the Implementation Committee on the Naira-based sales of crude oil and refined products. “Whatever solution we proffer in crude oil and refined products sales in Naira should not take us back to our experience in the last 40 years,” presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga quoted his principal as saying in a Tuesday statement. “There can be cost and revenue adjustment in the oil sector, but the issue is that the government will not have to go back…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has received a call from President Joe Biden of the United States of America. The phone discussion which took place at about 4pm, Nigerian time, on Tuesday, lasted for about 30 minutes. This was disclosed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, while briefing state House Correspondents about the development. The discussion centered about the recent release of the Head of Finance Crime compliance at Binance, Tigran Gambaryan. Tuggar said, “The call was about the collaboration between the two countries with regards to law enforcement and law enforcement agencies as well as the release of…

PRESIDENT of the Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has said his refinery is the solution to the lingering fuel queues across the nation. Speaking with State House Correspondents, on Tuesday, Africa’s richest man asked the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and marketers across the country to stop importation of fuel. Dangote, flanked by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and the special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that at full capacity his refinery can supply whatever is being consumed. “What I estimated as our consumption daily is about…

THE Presidency has postponed the screening of seven ministerial nominees “to allow all nominees to conclude all aspects of documentation and pre-screening exercises”. The screening exercise was initially scheduled to be held on Tuesday on the floor of the Senate but the Presidency said the exercise has now been shifted to Wednesday noon. This was contained in a statement on Tuesday signed by Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado made available to News Point Nigeria. Last Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu sacked five ministers, re-assigned 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios and appointed seven new ministers for…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu wants the speed up repair works and restore power to the northern part of Nigeria. The north has been thrown into a blackout following the vandalism of some transmission lines, raising concerns among stakeholders in the region and beyond. But President Tinubu has directed the Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu and “relevant agencies to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the North”. “President Tinubu is saddened by the reports of vandalism and wilful destruction of power infrastructure and other public assets that caused the unfortunate blackout. “In a…

THE Governors of the 19 Northern States on Monday met with traditional rulers from the region in Kaduna State to discuss critical issues affecting the region.  News Point Nigeria reports that the meeting was part of the Northern States Governors’ Forum’s efforts to engage with key stakeholders and address pressing concerns, especially the lingering insecurity, poverty, out-of-school children and other socio-economic challenges ravaging the region. The meeting which was chaired by the Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, and hosted by Governor Uba Sani at Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House in Kaduna, has in attendance…

PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Bayo Onanuga says with the recent cabinet reshuffle by President Bola Tinubu, suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Betta Edu, has officially been relieved of her ministerial assignment. ”Betta Edu is gone,” Onanuga declared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics Monitored by News Point Nigeria. “She was suspended in January and this is October. She is gone, officially. Her position has been taken over by the Plateau man. “As far as this government is concerned, there is no more place for her in this cabinet,” the presidential spokesman said, adding that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission…

PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Bayo Onanuga says that his principal, President Bola Tinubu, is not unfeeling as painted by some persons on social media. Onanuga said the President feels the pain of Nigerians and has assured them that better days are nearer than before. The presidential spokesman, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria, said his principal is not T-pain, as “mischievously” nicknamed on social media. Onanuga said Tinubu has not come to inflict pain on Nigerians but to “repair the economy”. He said “the President is aware that the citizens are going through some difficulties” but…

PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Bayo Onanuga said contrary to popular opinion, his principal, President Bola Tinubu, did not acquire a new official jet but a refurbished one. “It’s not President Tinubu’s plane, it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is our property,” Onanuga said on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-economic programme aired on Channels Television monitored by News Point Nigeria. He said some jets in the presidential fleet like a 19-year-old Boeing B737-700 purchased under ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo are all in bad condition, and their maintenance costs were outrageous. Hence, instead of spending a bogus…

THE Presidency on Saturday faulted The Guardian newspaper’s lead story of October 25, which had the title: “Calls for military intervention: misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices.” Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, in a statement, said that the story “openly incited unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocated regime change under the guise of journalism”. He said the inflammatory headline and content deviated from responsible reporting. See full statement below: STATE HOUSE PRESS STATEMENT RE: “MISERY, HARSH POLICIES DRIVING NIGERIANS TO DESPERATE CHOICES” – OPEN LETTER TO THE GUARDIAN The Guardian newspaper’s…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Saturday congratulated Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Botchwey on her election as the incoming Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. On Friday, leaders of the 56 Commonwealth nations meeting in Apia, Samoa, elected Botchwey, a 61-year-old former lawmaker who has served as Ghana’s foreign minister for the last seven years, as the 7th Secretary-General. She is expected to assume office on April 1, 2025. Botchwey is the second African to be elected secretary-general of the Commonwealth in its 75-year history, after Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria, who served in that position from July 1,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has restricted Ministers, Ministers of State, and Heads of Agencies of the Federal Government to a maximum of three vehicles in their official convoys. This was disclosed in statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Thursday. According to the statement, Tinubu also ordered all ministers, ministers of state, and heads of agencies to have at most five security personnel attached to them. See full statement below: STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT TINUBU ISSUES NEW DIRECTIVES ON REDUCTION IN COST OF GOVERNANCE President Bola Tinubu has restricted Ministers, Ministers of State,…

BAYO Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has revealed the reason behind the sack of some ministers, which he said was based on Nigerians’ scorecard and empirical facts. He also relayed the role the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, played in the ministers’ dismissal from the cabinet. Tinubu on Wednesday relieved Barr. Uju-Ken Ohanenye, former Minister of Women Affairs, Lola Ade-John, his counterparts ministry of Tourism, Prof. Tahir Mamman (SAN) who headed the Education ministry, Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development and Dr.…

THE Senate has received a request from President Bola Tinubu for the confirmation of the appointments of seven ministerial nominees announced on Wednesday. President Tinubu’s request seeking expeditious consideration of the requests was contained in a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio who read it at the commencement of the plenary on Thursday. Tinubu urged the Senate to consider and confirm the seven nominees for appointment as ministers. The ministerial nominees for confirmation include Nentawe Yilwatda (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction), Muhammadu Dingyadi (Labour & Employment), Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (State Foreign Affairs), and Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade and Investment). Others…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu wielded his big stick on Wednesday, and like a surgeon in a theatre, he used his surgical knife, yanked off five ministers, redeployed 10 and appointed seven fresh nominees as ministers to replace the sacked ones as well as two others — Betta Edu who was initially suspended, and Simon Lalong who left his cabinet to join the Senate. Tinubu, ex-Lagos governor, appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, three months after his inauguration. The Senate immediately screened and confirmed the ministers. One of the ministers, Betta Edu, was suspended in January while ex-Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has appointed Sunday Dare as Special Adviser on Public Communication and orientation. He will be working from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation. Dare’s announcement was announced on Wednesday when President Tinubu also sacked 5 ministers and re-assigned 10 to new ministerial portfolios. He as well appointed seven new ministers for Senate confirmation. Dare served as the Nigerian Minister of Youth & Sports from 2019 to 2023 under the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Before being made a minister, Buhari had appointed Dare as an Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)…

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the immediate implementation of eight far-reaching actions to reinvigorate the Administration’s capacity for optimal efficiency pursuant of his commitment to deliver on his promises to Nigerians. The eight actions approved by Mr. President include: 1. The renaming of the Ministry of Nigeria Delta Development to Ministry of Regional Development to oversee the activities of all the Regional Development Commissions. The Regional Development Commissions to be under the supervision of the new Ministry are; the Niger Delta Development Commission, the South East Development Commission, the North East Development and the North West Development Commission. 2.…

PRESIDENT Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) have scrapped the Niger Delta Ministry, and the Ministry of Sports Development. The decisions were taken on Wednesday at the meeting of the FEC in Abuja, as seen on the X handle of the Special Adviser Information and Strategy to President Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga on Wednesday. There will now be a ministry of regional development to oversee all the regional development commissions, such as Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, and the North East Development Commission. The National Sports Commission will take over the role of…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu says Nigerian motorists can now purchase a litre of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, at N1,000 per litre. The president also noted that the equivalent of a litre of petrol, which is a Standard Cubic Meter of Compressed Natural Gas, can be had for N200. Tinubu said this when he met with the executives of the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company, led by the director, Mr Ramesh Kasangra, at the State House in Abuja Tuesday, according to a statement issued by the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, titled, “President Tinubu meets NIPCO…