Author: Amina Ibrahim

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu, on Monday, met with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; and the service chiefs at the State House in Abuja.  In attendance at the meeting include the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. C.G Musa; the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen T. A Lagbaja; the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla; and the Chief of Air Staff, AVM H.B Abubakar. The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun was also present at the security meeting. The meeting was not unconnected to the worrisome security situation in the country. Monday’s meeting is the President’s…

THE Presidential Election Petition Court has resumed sitting in the Nation’s Capital for the respondents- INEC, the APC and its presidential candidate, to open their defence in the petitions of the Peoples Democratic Party and Labour Party, who are challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was the first to lead the path by calling three witnesses in the Labour Party’s petition. Unfortunately, their first defence witness slated for this morning, called to register his unavailability due to domestic urgency, that’s according to the Counsel to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud. He asked that the case…

THE Federal Government has rejected the European Union’s report on the 2023 general elections, describing the conclusions of the EU Electoral Observer Mission as “jaundiced”. “We urge the EU and other foreign interests to be objective in all their assessments of the internal affairs of our country and allow Nigeria to breathe,” Dele Alake, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy said in a statement on Sunday. Alake insisted that the February 25, 2023 presidential election was “clearly and fairly” won by Tinubu, the then candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC). He also said…

THE Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has declared that its National Vice President, Engr. Munnir Atiku Lamido is missing. Disclosing this in a statement on Friday the National PRO, MACBAN, Alhaji Muhammad Nura Abdullahi, stated that: “we wish to bring to the notice of the general public and the security agencies that Engr. Munnir Atiku Lamido is missing. Engr. Munnir is the National Vice President of MACBAN.” “He left his house in Katsina State on Friday 23th June, 2023 with the intention of traveling to kaduna. He has been missing since then,” he said. According to the…

THE Federal Government has so far saved about N400bn as a result of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, since May 31, 2023, when the initiative was officially implemented, oil marketers stated on Thursday. Also, the oil dealers stated that there was a high possibility for the cost of petrol to rise in July, going by the recent floating of the naira against the United States dollar by the Federal Government. The Central Bank of Nigeria unified the country’s exchange rates into the Investors and Exporters window on June 14, 2023, allowing market forces to…

THE World Bank has thrown its weight in support of the Federal Government’s subsidy removal and the exchange rate unification. This comes weeks after President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech on subsidy removal and the need to unify Nigeria’s exchange rate. Speaking at an event organised by the World Bank to assess the nation’s economy in the last six months on Tuesday, Country Director, Dr Subham Chadhuri, explained that the policy though painful remains key to rebuilding the economy of the nation. Mr Chadhuri, however, advocated measures that will reduce the impact on the people going forward. He further stated that…

FOLLOWING his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Hassan Abubakar has approved the redeployment of 98 officers of air rank. Prominent among the new appointees are Branch Chiefs, Air Officers Commanding (AOCs), Commandants of Tri-Service Establishments, and Nigerian Air Force (NAF) institutions, according to a statement by NAF spokesperson, AK Famuyiwa. The newly appointed senior officers are expected to assume office not later than Monday, July 3, 2023. The newly reappointed senior officers comprise 52 AVMs and 46 Air Commodores (Air Cdres), among whom are the former Commandant Air Force…

A RETIRED Assistant Inspector General of Police, Nuhu Ribadu, has officially taken over from Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (retd) as Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA). At a brief event in Abuja on Monday, Ribadu on assumption, promised to live up to the expectations of Nigerians and secure the country from all forms of insecurity such as terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, amongst others. “We will stabilise this country, we will secure our country and we will make Nigeria peaceful because we believe time has come for this country to enjoy peace, restore order and rule of law just like any other country in…

FORMER Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, on Monday said that up until the time of its removal, the fuel subsidy has mostly been a scam run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in conjunction with marketers and other stakeholders in the oil sector. Yuguda who also was former minister of state for transport, disclosed this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to him, he was privileged to serve as the chairman of a subcommittee between 2008 and 2009 under the economic meltdown period and he chaired the…

A FORMER Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has asked President Bola Tinubu to take quick steps such as removal of bank charges and reduction in the monthly contributions to pension schemes by workers to ameliorate the biting effects of the removal of fuel subsidy on the masses. Chidoka, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, stated this on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria. “We need to think beyond politics. When he (Tinubu) took a decision to remove subsidy and he removed fuel subsidy and the fuel prices…

NIGERIA’s entertainment industry is set to receive tremendous boost with the recent appointment of Hannatu Musawa as the Special Adviser on Culture and Entertainment Economy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Musawa, who is a daughter of the late Katsina famous politician, Musa Musawa, is a lawyer, politician and author. She studied Law at the University of Buckingham, United Kingdom; and has Master’s degrees in the Legal Aspects of Marine Affairs from the University of Cardiff, Wales; and Oil and Gas Law from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She is also a qualified solicitor in England and Wales, UK; and a…

THE Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, has approved the posting and appointment of some senior officers of the Nigerian Army (NA) to command, instructional and staff appointments across NA formations and units. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Saturday, said this was in an effort to reposition the Nigerian Army for operational efficiency and functional administration. Those affected in the recent redeployment include some Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) of the Army Headquarters (AHQ) General Officers Commanding (GOCs), Corps Commanders, Commandants of training institutions, Brigade Commanders, Commanding Officers, amongst others.…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered that financial institutions obtain the social media handles, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, residential addresses, and more of their customers. This forms part of its new customer due diligence regulations and is a bid to further deepen the identification process in the banking system. The apex bank disclosed this in its newly released ‘Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023’ document. The CBN stated that its new regulation was created to provide additional customer due diligence measures for financial institutions under its regulatory purview. It noted, “To provide additional customer due diligence…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Friday described fuel subsidy as a “scam” and disincentive to growth, saying it rewarded smugglers and reduced the burden of the “real cost” of the commodity for some countries. Tinubu made the assertion during a meeting with members of the Nigerian community in France, said a statement by his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Dele Alake, later that day. Addressing Nigerians in France, Tinubu explained that the Special Adviser on Monetary Policy, Wale Edun and Alake had excluded fuel subsidy removal from his inaugural speech, “but he felt it was expedient to stop…

THE Court of Appeal Abuja division has reinstated the former Director General National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mohammed Dauda. Delivering judgement Justice Peter Ige said the evidence leading to the dismissal of Dauda was frivolous and lacking in merit. The Judge also resolved all the contentious issues against NIA in favour of Dauda who is a respondent in the suit. He further ordered that his salaries and entitlements since the day of dismissal from office be paid. The Appellate Court also gave an order that the sum of N1million be paid to Dauda. Justice Ige further held that Dauda should be…

THE Department of State Services (DSS) has called for vigilance ahead of the Eid-El-Kabir celebrations, saying that reports indicated plans to attack worship and recreational centres before and during the festivities. This was contained in a statement by the spokesperson for the secret police, Peter Afunanya, which was made available to Channels Television on Thursday. The DSS also advised operators and patrons of public places including markets and malls to be watchful and report any suspicious movements and persons to the relevant security agencies. The Service said it will continue to partner with sister agencies for necessary proactive drills to…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has not approved salary review for elected politicians and judicial officers, his media aide, Dele Alake has said. In a statement on Thursday, Alake, the Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy to the President described as misinformation, reports (not by Channels Television) that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) approved 114% increase in the salary of the President, Vice President, elected Federal and state political office holders and judicial officers. “We state without any equivocation that President Bola Tinubu has not approved any salary increase, and no such proposal has been brought before…

OPERATIVES of the Department of State Services have conducted a search of the Abuja home and office of the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa. This newspaper learnt that the secret police, also during the week, invited Bawa’s close associates in the EFCC for questioning, over alleged mismanagement, misappropriation and diversion of proceeds of sold assets forfeited to the EFCC. However, when contacted on Wednesday to speak on the development, the spokesperson for the DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, said, “No comments.” Bawa, who is currently being held in the custody of the DSS “Yellow House,”…

VICE President Kashim Shettima has met with British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery at the State House, Abuja. In a chat with State House correspondents, the British High Commissioner informed State House correspondents that the meeting with the Nigerian Vice President was fruitful, as it focused on how to ramp up bilateral relations between the two countries, particularly in the area of boosting economic engagements. Montgomery said British ministers are “responding positively” to the policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration including removal of fuel subsidy and unification of foreign exchange rates. The British High Commissioner said he discussed…

AIG Hakeem Odumosu, former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Wednesday, debunked news circulating online that he has been appointed as chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). Reports emerged on Tuesday night that President Bola Tinubu had approved the appointment of Odumosu as the substantive Chairman of EFCC. But in a statement, Odumosu, who retired as an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, said he was not aware of such an appointment. He described the circulation of the fake appointment as an unnecessary distraction by mischief makers. “Good Morning everyone, I have been inundated with so many calls and messages…