PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has vowed to invoke his constitutional powers to continue to equip, arm and empower the Nigerian military. He acknowledged “the importance of strategic leadership in addressing the complex security and development challenges” confronting Nigeria. According to a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications (Office of The Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, on Friday, President Tinubu made the vow on Friday during the graduation ceremony of the Course 32 participants at the National Defence College Abuja. Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the event, the President decried the state of…
Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani
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VICE President Kashim Shettima has charged the Nigerian Armed Forces to remain vigilant and proactive in addressing regional security threats. He gave the charge at the Graduation Ceremony of Course 32 of the Nigerian Defence College Abuja. Shettima who represented President Tinubu said the current administration is determined to make Nigeria safe for investment and economic prosperity. He emphasised the need for strategic leadership to address the mirage of security challenges in the country. A total of 111 participants took part in the course, with 19 foreign participants. Addressing the participants, the VP urged them to continue to uphold the…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has sworn in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria, pending her confirmation by the Senate. Her swearing-in followed President Bola Tinubu’s return to Abuja on Friday after a trip to France on a brief work visit. The President, who arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in the early hours of Friday, left for France on Monday. President Tinubu who had cut short his to France, is scheduled to swear in the new Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun this morning at the Council Chambers in the state House. Justice Kekere-Ekun will succeed…
CHINESE firm on a confiscation blitz of Nigerian assets has finalised repossession of a luxury jet owned by Nigeria in Canada, News Point Nigeria gathered. Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd recently received a change of custodian paperwork for the Bombardier 6000 type BD-700-1A10 aircraft from Canadian authorities in Montreal, this newspaper heard from sources familiar with the situation, months after a Canadian court issued a judgement that empowered Zhongchang to seize the jet from Nigeria. “The court granted orders for Zhongshang to seize the plane earlier this year, but the change of custody from Nigeria to Zhongshang was only recently…
THE Gombe State contingent for the 2024 National Youth Games, scheduled to take place in Asaba from September 9th to 19th, is gearing up to participate in the zonal elimination in Taraba from August 28th to September 1st, 2024. The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Adamu Inuwa Ibrahim, reaffirmed the state’s commitment to participating in both the zonal elimination in Taraba and the main event in Asaba, Delta State. He expressed confidence in Gombe’s preparations, stating, “As usual, we are fully preparing, and God willing, we will attend the zonal elimination in Taraba and the National Youth Games in…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Professor Abdurrahman Abba Sheshe as the Chief Medical Director of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, for a second term of four years. Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement said the new term takes effect from December 5, 2023. Ngelale said Professor Sheshe was first appointed as the Chief Medical Director of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital on December 6, 2019. In the same vein, the President has also approved the reappointment of Professor Yusuf Jibrin Bara as Chief Medical Director of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa…
THE Federal Government says it has cut down expenditures for the upcoming COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, Briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Special adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said that the measure would save the government about N10 billion from the 11-day event. “Many Nigerians would recall that as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the federal government of Nigeria’s delegation to COP28 in Dubai, UAE, last year, there were some elements of outcry concerning the size of the delegation,” Ngelale said. According to Ngelale, the cutting down of the official expenditure is…
THE Chinese Government on Monday distanced itself from the legal scuffle between the Ogun State Government and the Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Ltd., which involved the seizure and eventual release of some of Nigeria’s presidential aircraft, including a modified Airbus A330. This was as the Presidency confirmed the purchase and delivery of the Airbus A330 business jet, which President Bola Tinubu flew from Abuja to Paris, France, on Monday evening. The Head of Communication at the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Gu Jiang, told this newspaper that “Chinese companies are private enterprises and do not belong to the…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has fired Jalal Arabi, as Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON). Ajuri Ngelale, Presidential spokesman, disclosed this in a statement in which he announced Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman as the new Chairman of the agency. “Professor Usman is a renowned scholar with qualifications from two Islamic centres of excellence — the University of Madinah and Peshawar University, Pakistan. “He is also well-grounded in Hajj operations, having served as the Chairman of Kano State Pilgrims Board, and successfully superintended the operations of the largest quota of state pilgrims in the country. “The appointment is…
PRESIDENT Tinubu departed Abuja Monday for Paris, using the new Airbus A330, which replaced the 19-year-old Boeing B737-700(BBJ) bought under the Presidency of President Olusegun Obasanjo. This was disclosed in statement made available to News Point Nigeria by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Monday. According to the statement, the new plane, bought far below the market price, saves Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs, running into millions of dollars yearly. “The recommendation to replace the B737-700(BBJ) followed an investigative hearing by Nigeria’s parliament that questioned the plane’s safety record and cost efficiency, especially…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will travel to France on Monday (today), the presidency has said. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. He said Tinubu would return to the country after his stay in the European nation. “President Bola Tinubu will embark on a trip to France on Monday, August 19, departing from Abuja, the nation’s capital. The President will return to the country after his brief work stay in France,” the terse statement read. However, he did not state the reason for the visit. This is coming two…
NATIONAL Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Ganduje, has disowned campaign posters which have appeared on social media purporting that he wants to contest for the seat of the president come 2027 against President Bola Tinubu. The former Kano State governor described the posters as fake and malicious. Ganduje in a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, said mischief makers were behind the campaign posters. The posters presents Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma will be Ganduje’s running mate. The statement reads: “This is to inform the general public that the poster currently circulating on…
THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested a Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja after he tested positive for ingestion of cocaine. This was contained in a statement signed by the Agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday and made available to Channels Television. He said that the 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Monday, August 12, 2024, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha. According to Babafemi, Mbadugha excreted a total of 88 wraps…
TO reduce the cost of governance, President Bola Tinubu has issued a directive to reduce the size of Nigeria’s official delegation to the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in New York, United States. Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale in a statement on Saturday said the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this in Abuja during a one-day retreat organised by the State House management for heads of government agencies under its supervision. Highlighting the need for the State House and agencies under its supervision to ensure that its functions are guided by statutes, regulations, policy decisions,…
THE National Peace Committee NPC on Friday revealed details of some behind-the-scenes maneuvers by partisans and other unnamed elements during the 2023 Presidential Election, disclosing how it came under immense pressure to get the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to either halt collation of the results or cancel the election. The committee led by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar disclosed this on Friday in Abuja when it presented to the public its 106-page report of the 2023 General Elections titled, “Nigeria’s Pursuit of Electoral Compliance: National Peace Committee NPC 2023 General Elections Report”. Before presenting the report…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has congratulated Nigeria’s former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida ( Rtd) on his 83rd birthday. IBB who became a year older on Saturday, was Nigeria’s military president from 1985 to 1993. A statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser, Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, says: “President Tinubu salutes the former head of state on this special occasion, noting his endeavours towards the development of the nation, especially in infrastructure and otherwise, notably the completion of the Third Mainland Bridge which at the time was the longest bridge in Africa. “The President acknowledges the role of General Babangida in…
THE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar has slammed the Ogun state government, saying, sub-national actors such as states should not enter foreign or international negotiations without the input of the ministry of foreign affairs or the Federal Government. He was speaking on the efforts being made to resolve the dispute with a Chinese company which has led to the seizure of three jets of the Federal Government by a French court. The court ruled that Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment should use Nigeria’s jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports as “security for its claim of EUR…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has departed Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, after a three-day official visit. During the visit, the President had some diplomatic and economic activities between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea rolling, including the signing of the Gulf of Guinea pipeline agreement. The resuscitation of the Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea Joint National Commission, under which many other bilateral activities have been set in motion and to be activated in November. President Tinubu, who was escorted by the Equatorial Guinean Prime Minister, Manuela Roka Botey, departed the Malabo International Airport at 4:03pm.
ZHONGSHAN Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, the Chinese firm that got a court injunction to ground three presidential jets belonging to the Federal Government in Europe, has initiated plans to seize other Nigerian assets in the United Kingdom, United States of America and in six other countries. This newspaper also learnt that the company had instituted legal proceedings in about eight jurisdictions globally, regarding the dispute. The other countries include Belgium, Canada, France, Singapore and the British Virgin Islands, documents relating to the case, which were obtained by our correspondent, were revealed on Thursday. This comes as the Federal Government…
THE Senate has refuted claims that lawmakers in the Red Chamber receive N21m in salaries and allowances. The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu (Ekiti South), made this clarification on Thursday in response to statements by Senator Sumaila Kawu. In an interview with British Broadcasting Corporation Hausa Service on Wednesday, Kawu claimed that he earns a cumulative N21m monthly in salary and allowances. He also stated that his “monthly salary is less than N1 million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000.” He further explained, “Given the increase effected in the Senate, each Senator gets N21 million monthly…