THE Federal Government has announced that it will pay the backlog of the new ₦77,000 monthly allowance for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after several months of delays. The government had announced the allowance increase in September 2024, but despite multiple assurances, the increase has yet to be implemented. Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande confirmed the payment plan on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today. Olawande stated that the government would pay the ₦77,000 allowance, including backdated payments, to both serving corps members and those who were in the program when the increase…
Author: Binta Kabir
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THE Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa has been nominated as one of the 65 Nigerian women being recognized for their outstanding contributions to the country’s development. The announcement was made Wednesday morning on the Morning Show, of Arise News. The “Women of Impact” award is an initiative by Arise Group, owners of Thisday Newspapers and Arise, which celebrates the top 65 women who have made significant impacts in various fields. Minister Musawa was nominated for her innovative work in promoting Nigeria’s art, culture, tourism and creative economy She was nominated alongside fellow ministers,…
THROUGH the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Federal Government has taken steps end perennial flooding of communities in Nigeria by the release of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. The commission’s acting Head, Media and Publicity, Ifeanyi Nwoko, said the construction of the Dasin Hausa Dam is being accelerated. The intervention, Nwoko said, will end decades of devastating floods affecting residents in Taraba, Adamawa, Benue and other river basin communities. He noted that the dam, designed in the 1980s as a strategic buffer against floods caused by the release of water from Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authority, had…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has raised the alarm over the activities of 58 illegal Ponzi scheme operators defrauding Nigerians under the guise of investment opportunities. In a statement released on Tuesday by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency disclosed that the companies are neither registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria nor the Securities and Exchange Commission, making their operations illegal. Oyewale noted that the commission has taken legal action against many of the entities, leading to the conviction of five, while another five have pleaded guilty and are awaiting further judicial…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured a total of 4,111 convictions in 2024. According to the commission, the conviction was the highest number in any operational year since its inception. The commission also recovered significant sums across multiple currencies, totaling $214.5m, N364.6m, £54,318, €31,265, and various other amounts in different currencies. This was contained in a document obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday. “In 2024, the commission secured 4,111 convictions. This is the highest number of convictions secured in any operational year from inception to date. This laudable achievement is attributable to the dedication of our officers and…
FORMER Presidential Adviser, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has faulted Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment claim, saying once women become senators, they can’t be sexually harassed. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently claimed on a live television programme that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, frustrated her moves to raise motions about Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State because she refused to sleep with him. However, while reacting to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual allegation against the Senate President on Arise TV on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, Senator Ita-Giwa said women can’t claim to be sexually harassed when they are elected into the Senate. The former lawmaker…
A VIDEO has emerged showing the lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, accusing an unnamed minister of sexual harassment. In the video, which appears to be from a press briefing, Natasha can be heard saying she suffered the harassment while seeking a job after spending five years at Brass LNG. She explained that she failed to secure the job because the minister confessed that she would be a distraction to him until he had his way with her. Natasha said, “I remember many years ago, I was just out of Brass LNG, where I worked for five years, and…
NO fewer than 20,197 Nigerians stranded in various countries have voluntarily returned to their homeland. According to data collated from various repatriation exercises facilitated by the International Organisation for Migration, the stranded Nigerians The stranded Nigerians returned to their country under the IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme, which involved intervention from the Federal Government and various Nigerian missions abroad. Women and girls constitute nearly 88 per cent of the returnees, while men account for 13 per cent. Most VoTs fall within the age bracket of 18 to 39 years, with those aged 18 to 25 being particularly susceptible…
THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has blacklisted Aveo Pharmaceuticals Pvt Limited, an India-based company implicated in the illegal production and exportation of highly addictive opioid combinations in Nigeria and some other West African countries. The company was found culpable of manufacturing, selling, and exporting a range of addictive pills containing a dangerous combination of Tapentadol, a potent opioid, and Carisoprodol, a banned muscle relaxant with addictive properties linked to overdoses and fatalities. The mix, sold under the names Tafrodol and Royal 225, has been widely trafficked across the region. A BBC World Service investigation…
THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says that there will be a seven-hour power outage in some parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In a statement, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the affected areas will experience blackout on Saturday, February 22, and Sunday, February 23, 2025, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day. She attributed the action to scheduled annual preventive maintenance on two transformers. “The Transmission Company of Nigeria informs the public that its maintenance crew will conduct annual preventive maintenance on the 2x100MVA, TR3 & TR4 transformers at the Apo 132/33kV Transmission…
THE naira appreciated to N1,535 per dollar in the parallel market, commonly referred to as the black market, driven by reduced demand for the dollar amid improved liquidity conditions. This marks a gain of N25, or 1.6%, compared to the N1,560 per dollar exchange rate recorded on Monday in the same market. Data compiled from online trading platforms and street traders confirmed the development. “There is not much demand in the market, but we have enough dollars,” a trader noted. In the official foreign exchange (FX) market, the naira also strengthened against the dollar on Tuesday, according to figures published…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board says candidates under the age of 16 can be considered for admission into tertiary institutions if they demonstrate that they are academically exceptional by scoring 80 per cent and above in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. Given that the total score in the UTME is 400 marks, 80 represents a minimum score of 320. This development follows the recent reversal of the mandatory 18-year admission age benchmark introduced by the former Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman. The current education minister, Olatunji Alausa, reinstated the previous benchmark of 16 years, a move widely supported by…
THE Honourable Minister of State for Works, and the Minister Superintending FERMA, Bello Muhammad Goronyo, Esq., has disclosed that Nigerians will be given the best in road maintenance and safety across Federal roads network. He made this statement during a familiarization tour to Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Headquarters today Wednesday 5th February, 2025. He said Nigerians deserve the best experience in pleasurable ride and security from all forms of danger when using the road. He however, bemoaned the poor budgetary allocation for roads maintenance in the country as factor militating against the realization of this dream. According to him,…
THE Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has said that the intervention agency has disbursed around N2 trillion to tertiary institutions across the country between 2011 and 2024. He stated that the intervention was deployed to enhance infrastructural projects such as senate buildings, classrooms, lecture theatres, auditoria, ICT centres, laboratories and laboratory research equipment, libraries, workshops, and hostels, among many others, across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria. The Executive Secretary, who was speaking at the 41st Convocation Lecture of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, tagged “TETFund And Educational Development in Nigeria: The…
NIGERIA’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, visited Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to officially commission the newly constructed General Babatunde Idiagbon Flyover at Tanke and the Dr. Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari Flyover. During the event, Tinubu paused her convoy after noticing a group of schoolchildren gathered outside their school, singing and cheering her on. She took a moment to address them, urging them to focus on their education and avoid any actions that could jeopardize their future. The gesture was highlighted in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Busola Kukoyi. She wrote: “The highlight of the would be the spontaneous…
THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced dates for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the sale of forms will begin on January 31, 2025, and close on March 5, 2025. He said the sale of application documents and e-PIN vending will begin on March 10, 2025 for direct entry candidates. The exercise will end on April 7, 2025. While the Mock-UTME is scheduled for April 5, 2025, the main exam (UTME) will be held from April 25, 2025, to May 5, 2025. Candidates registering for UTME with a mock exam…
THE Nigerian Labour Congress has called for the resignation of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu and other Ministry of Power officials over the frequent collapse of the national power grid. In a statement made available to News Point Nigeria on Wednesday by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero said the power sector was on the brink of total collapse. Ajaero said, “If the Ministry of Power is manned by competent officials, the now embarrassing constant grid collapse would have been averted instead of the worrying statement by the Minister that this will continue as if this has always been the…
Producing Data For Informed Decision-Making THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is set to launch the Rebased Consumer Price Index (CPI) report as part of its effort to provide data for informed decision making. CPI is a number which shows movement of aggregate price level and is an important macro – economic variable of a country. According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Public Relations, NBS, Ichedi, Sunday Joel, made available to News Point Nigeria on Monday, the last CPI Rebasing was conducted in 2009. WHY REBASING CPI? It is important that CPI is Rebased from time…
SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, is at the top of eminent personalities who would on Thursday in Abuja brainstorm on the major factors inhibiting mass production, processing and distribution of food Nigeria. According to a press release signed by the CEO of the Media Trust Group, Ahmed I. Shekarau, the Speaker has confirmed his participation as Special Guest of Honour at the 22nd Daily Trust Dialogue with the theme “Food Security: Availability or Affordability”. The statement said that the founder and Director General of the Songhai Farms based in Benin Republic, Rev. Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo, has accepted…
A TOTAL sum of ₦1.424 trillion, being December 2024 Federation Accounts Revenue, has been shared among the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils. The revenue was shared at the January 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja. The Director of Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Bawa Mokwa, disclosed this in a statement on Friday. The ₦1.424 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of ₦386.124 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of ₦604.872 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of ₦31.211 billion and Exchange Difference…