Author: Binta Kabir

THE Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, says no fewer than 8.3 million Nigerians are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. Edu said the figure is part of the total 16 million Nigerians affected by various humanitarian crises, with the three states worse hit. The minister said this in a statement by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Mr Rasheed Zubair made available to News Point Nigeria, on Sunday in Abuja. She said aside from the North-East, Benue in the North/Central had been tagged the capital of humanitarian crises in…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has recalled Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Ishola. Ishola was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021. However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Maltama Tuggar, in a letter dated August 31, 2023 sighted by News Point Nigeria, stated that the decision signalled the end of Ishola’s tenure as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the United Kingdom. “By this communication, you are now expected to commence the process of winding down your affairs, and take formal leave of your host government within sixty…

THE three tiers of government, federal, states and Local Government Areas, shared a total of N4.37tn from the Federation Account as statutory revenue allocations between January and June 2023, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said on Thursday. It disclosed this in its latest report on the Federation Account revenue allocations for the first half of the year. The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Ogbonnanya Orji, who announced the release of the report at the NEITI House, Abuja, said total distributable FAAC allocations to the three tiers of government in the first and second quarters of 2023 stood at over N2.32tn and…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Thursday suggested that nine months is enough for the Niger military junta to return the country to civilian rule after seizing power from President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26. Tinubu said this when he received the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the State House. According to the Nigerian leader, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), if Nigeria could successfully return to democracy in 1999 through a nine-month programme by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, there was…

FOLLOWING the opening of Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam, the Federal Government has said that intense flooding will be experienced in some states in the next seven days. The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, gave this prediction on Monday when she hosted the Minister of Water Resources, Minister of Environment, as well as other stakeholders on ways to mitigate the impact of the flooding in Nigeria. The minister assured Nigerians that shelters will be provided to residents in flood-prone states. News Point Nigeria had reported that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was alerted over impending flooding along…

THERE are conflicting statements on the National Youth Service (NYSC) status of the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa. While a statement purportedly released by the Minister on Sunday quoted her as not breaching Nigerian law by being appointed as minister while still undergoing the compulsory NYSC, another statement from her office said the minister is yet to comment on the matter. “I deeply value and appreciate the support, solidarity, and understanding of Nigerians in these times. For clarity, I wish to state that I have not issued any statement on the current issue,” the statement signed…

FIRST Lady Oluremi Tinubu has awarded scholarships to 46 Nigerian students in tertiary institutions across the country as the first set of beneficiaries of her Renewed Hope Initiative. The Special Adviser to the First Lady on Media, Busola Kukoyi, in a statement on Saturday, said the beneficiaries were drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. Kukoyi added that other beneficiaries were nominated by various women societies, including the National Council for Women Societies, and the Defence Staff and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA). The beneficiaries were unveiled at the launch of the National Scholarship Programme for…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says it is monitoring the new subvariants of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, named EG.5 and BA.2.86. In a statement on Saturday, the health agency said its COVID-19 Technical Working Group has been monitoring emerging variants from local to global level. “Our influenza sentinel surveillance sites continue to provide information on COVID-19 prevalence in patients with influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory illness,” the statement partly read. “We have not observed any increase in trend of COVID-19 in this patient group. We continue to carry out genomics surveillance even…

THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says he did not buy a N300m Armoured Lexus car on assumption of office. Wike, who spoke on Wednesday after his tour of the Abuja Light Rail, denied social media reports and challenged reporters to touch his car to confirm whether it was a bulletproof car or not. The ex-governor of Rivers State said he has not had a meeting with officials of the FCT Administration let alone approve a car for himself. He said, “We are now going to the office to have a direct report from each of…

THE Kaduna State Government has unveiled a comprehensive palliative support programme designed to help cushion the negative impact of the removal of petrol subsidies on residents of the state. Governor Uba Sani made the disclosure on Tuesday during a joint media briefing, where the initiative was unveiled with the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Suleiman, and other members of the palliative committee comprising representatives of organised labour and civil society organisations. According to Sani, 210,000 indigent households, totalling 1,050,000 vulnerable persons will benefit from the N2 billion palliative fund so far released by the Federal Government…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu inaugurated his 45-member cabinet on Monday after they were screened by the Senate. Among the ministers-designate is the 69-year-old Professor, Tahir Mamman, who was sworn in as the Minister of Education by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola. In this report, this newspaper ticks 10 things to know about Tahir: 1. Dr Tahir Mamman was born on July 7, 1954. 2. He graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. 3. He bagged his MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Warwick, England. 4. He is a father of…

THE Ministry of Information and Culture has issued a fresh circular directing Directors affected by the new Public Service Rule(PSR) 2021 to immediately exit the service. This newspaper recalls Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan, had in a circular addressed to all Permanent Secretaries, Accountant-General of the Federation, Auditor-General for the Federation and Heads of Extra Ministerial Department to start implementation of the revised public service rule from July 27. The revised PSR 020909 stipulates that, “A Director or its equivalent by whatever nomenclature it is described in MDAs shall compulsorily retire upon serving eight years…

VICE President Kashim Shettima, on Thursday, chaired the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja. The meeting being held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, has in attendance, governors from across the Federation and other stakeholders. The meeting is expected to address some of the pertinent economic challenges in the country occasioned by the removal of petrol subsidy. Also expected to be discussed are security challenges across the country, with recent attacks in some parts of the North. Journalists have been excused from the meeting and are waiting to be briefed on the outcome. The NEC meeting…

THE First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Monday, hosted the Super Falcons at the State House in Abuja a week after the players’ exit from the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The First lady, who received some of the players, their technical team and officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said the girls displayed dedication, resilience, team spirit with the zeal and strength that defines Nigeria. The Nigerian side reached the 2023 Women’s World Cup round of 16 but narrowly lost to England’s Lionesses via penalties. The President’s wife, in her tribute to all the players, said they…

NIGERIA’s Embassy has debunked social media reports that its embassy building in Niger’s capital, Niamey had been attacked and burnt down amid the ongoing coup crisis in the region. This comes after videos emerged on social media purportedly showing the Nigerian Embassy in Niamey on fire allegedly attacked by a mob angry at Nigerian government position on the coup. But according to a press statement sighted by News Point Nigeria Saturday, signed by Dr Liti I. Auwalu, PH.D on behalf of the Ambassador, the protesters tried to gain access to the Embassy on 30th July, 2023, the Nigerien Military and…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Friday reassured Nigerians that no stone will be left unturned in his administration’s multifarious efforts to stimulate the economy and make it work for the greatest good of all Nigerians. This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement. He quoted the President to have said this in a meeting with the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Forum held at the State House, Abuja. “This economy must recover for the good and greatest number of Nigerians, and we are seriously committed…

THE Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its nationwide strike and will resume work on Saturday. The association’s national president Innocent Orji confirmed the development on Friday evening. “Good evening. We just suspended the strike. Work to resume 8am tomorrow,” he said in a terse message to News Point Nigeria. “We will review the progress made in two weeks.” The move is coming days after the doctors suspended their planned nationwide protest to press home their demands. According to the NARD chief, the doctors are pushing for eight things including the recruitment of more persons to replace doctors…

THE Federal Government has says the 2023 flood situation across the country is worsening as 20 states, and 46 Local Government Areas have been hit by different degrees of flooding. It said this had resulted in the demise of about five people. It disclosed this at the National Emergency Coordination Forum, organised by the National Emergency Management Agency in Abuja. In his address at the forum, the Director-General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Clement Nze, noted that in February 2023, NIHSA presented the 2023 Annual Flood Outlook to the public. “The general outlook shows that 178 LGAs fall within the high…

GOVERNMENT officials should be mandated to use only vehicles assembled in Nigeria, Senator Ireti Kingibe argued on Wednesday with respect to the outcry over the high cost of governance as Nigerians cope with economic hardships, adding that she rides “a 1986 car”. The senator representing the FCT, who appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, argued that “we cannot continue like this”. Asked what she would do differently to tackle the situation, Kingibe said, “I would insist that all government vehicles must have been assembled in Nigeria. That would go a long way to improving productivity…