Author: Sani Nura

FORMER President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Daura, his hometown, Katsina State, a few moments after he handed over the mantle of Nigeria’s leadership to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday. The white-coloured presidential plane touched down at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua International Airport carrying the former president, his wife, Aisha Buhari, and their entourage at about 1:10 pm. On arrival at the airport, Buhari was warmly received by the newly sworn-in governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda; his deputy, Faruk Jobe, alongside the State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Muhammad Sani, as well as the Senator representing Katsina North,…

SPECIAL ADDRESS DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MUHAMMADU INUWA YAHAYA, CON  (DAN MAJEN GOMBE) ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 2ND TERM SWEARING-IN AS THE GOVERNOR OF GOMBE STATE ON MONDAY 29TH MAY 2023, AT THE PANTAMI TOWNSHIP STADIUM GOMBE Protocols Exactly four years ago, I stood before you, conscious of the responsibility placed on my shoulders, and took the oath of office as the 4th civilian governor of Gombe State. I am grateful to God Almighty for giving me the wisdom and courage to deliver on our promises which led to my successful re-election, culminating in the new oath of office…

THE Gombe State Executive Council,  earlier today held a valedictory session to round off the life of the council. This is just as Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya inaugurated an 11- member Transition Management Committee. In his Valedictory remarks, Governor Inuwa Yahaya thanked the cabinet members for their sacrifices and dedication which saw to the success of his first tenure, noting that the achievements recorded by his administration would not have been possible without the efforts of the members whom he described as good team players. Governor Inuwa recounted that “preparatory to the coming of the government, during the campaigns and…

AS THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), intensifies operations at drug joints and routes nationwide ahead of May 29 inauguration, its operatives have intercepted a consignment of 32 pieces of Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, being taken to bandits’ camp in Niger State. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has since ordered the immediate transfer of a suspect, Musa Muhammadu caught with the explosives on Monday 22nd May along Wawa road, Kainji, Niger State to the military. NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed in a statement on Sunday that barely a week after, NDLEA operatives…

GOVERNOR Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has dissolved the Gombe State Executive Council and equally approved the termination of the appointment of all political appointees with effect from today, Friday,  26th May,.2023. However,  political office holders in statutory boards and commissions are excluded from this directive. Equally,  Local Government Caretaker chairmen will remain in charge of their respective councils until the expiration of their tenure on 19th June,  2023. Governor Inuwa Yahaya has also accepted the resignation of the Gombe State Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Bappayo Yahaya.  In his place, the Governor has approved the appointment of the Permanent Secretary/Principal Private…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has today received an asset declaration form from the Code of Conduct Bureau at the state house. The form was presented to the President inside the Presidential Villa by the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Professor Muhammad Isa, who led other members of the Bureau to his office. This is in compliance with the provision of the constitution which stipulates that all public officers shall declare their assets and liabilities on the assumption of office and at the end of their tenure of office. The president-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, the Vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima and…

THE Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, has emerged as Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum for the next four years. News Point Nigeria reports that, the Governor was unanimously elected by the 19 northern governors during their forum’s meeting held on Tuesday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja. Governor Inuwa takes over from Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State with effect from 29th May, 2023. In his acceptance speech, Governor Inuwa promised to justify the confidence reposed in him by his colleagues across party devides. He emphasized that the good legacies of the Forum will be sustained to…

AS part of his preparation to take charge of the affairs of Niger State, the Governor-Elect, Rt Honorable Mohammed Umaru Bago has accompanied the outgoing Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello to Cairo, Egypt to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Niger State, AFREXIM Bank and ORASCOM in respect of the Suleja Smart City Project, which was conceived in 2015. According to Alhaji Aminu Takuma, a member of the Niger State transition committee who was part of the delegation he said the MOU covers a clause to further conduct feasibility studies on the project to enable ORASCOM to validate the previous Feasibility…

GOVERNOR Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has approved the posting/redeployment of fifty-one serving and new Permanent Secretaries and Directors-General. Twenty-five Permanent Secretaries affected were posted accordingly. They are: Muhammad Sani Audu, Asihatu Hassan, Salisu A. Shehu and Tanko U. Garba; moved from Min. of Culture and Tourism, Min. of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Devt, Min. of Industry, Trade and Investment as well as Min. of Energy and Petroleum Resources respectively; to Min. for Local Governments, Min. of Youth and Sports Development,  Min. of Internal Security and Min. of Works Others from the administration department: Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Usman Buhari Sani,…

THE Zamfara State Police Command has rescued five students of the Federal University Gusau in the state, following their abduction. The Commissioner of Police in Zamfara State, Mohammed Bunu, in a statement on Friday, said armed men suspected to be kidnappers invaded the house of one Isah Mai Bread in the Sabon Gari area of Damba village, Gusau Local Government Area (LGA). Bunu, through the Second-in-Command, Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yazid Abubakar, disclosed that the assailants collected N200,000 from the occupant of the home and proceeded to the student apartment of the area. They allegedly abducted two male students…

TROOPS of Joint Taskforce North-West Operation Hadarin Daji in its clearance operations, have neutralized several armed bandits in the Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara state. The troops on Wednesday and Thursday conducted intense operations and cleared all bandits’ camps in Danbokolo, Malam Ila, Malam Sale, Kagara, Gangara, Fakai, and Manawa villages all under the Shinkafi council. A top military source who pleaded anonymity told News Point Nigeria that heavy contact was made with the armed bandits during the operations, and several of them were neutralized while others escaped with gunshot wounds to the mountains beside Fakai Village. He said,…

FIVE hundred and eleven (511) Boko Haram terrorists and their families have surrendered following a recent offensive by troops of the Nigerian Army in the North-East region. The figure comprises 99 adult males, 161 adult females, and 251 children who surrendered to troops at different locations within the theatre of operations. This was disclosed in a Thursday statement by the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami. “Troops also rescued one kidnapped Chibok school girl while a total of 511 Boko Haram terrorists/Islamic State of West Africa Province and members of their families comprising of 99 adult males,…

THE Niger State Governor-elect, Rt Honorable Mohammed Umar Bago has asserted that private enterprise alongside institutional government support was an integral part of sub-regional economic development. He made the assertion while throwing his weight behind the Tech ecosystem in Niger State at the opening of Labspace, a new tech innovation hub in Minna, the Niger State capital. This is coming against the background of the ICT sector contributing N21.15 trillion Naira to Nigeria’s GDP in 2022 according to the National Bureau of Statistics NBS, which represents about 18 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. The Labspace Hub was set up to coalesce…

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has facilitated the return of 13 Nigerian students that fled from the war in Sudan into Saudi Arabia to be back home. The students are scheduled to depart Jeddah Wednesday onboard Qatar Airways and will arrive Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja tomorrow, Thursday 18 May 2023. The return of the 13 Nigerian students from Saudi Arabia is part of the evacuation of stranded Nigerian citizens in the war torn Sudan by the Federal Government through NEMA and other relevant Agencies. These students had fled by using boats through the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia,…

GOVERNOR Aminu Masari of Katsina on Monday called on residents of the state to assist the government in efforts to reintegrate those affected by banditry. The state, according to the governor, is witnessing a reduction in banditry due to a lack of money in circulation to pay for ransom unlike before. The government, he observed, must ensure that children of the displaced persons are educated and their mothers taught skills otherwise what is seen today will be a child’s play. Masari was speaking during a special dinner organised to bid him farewell by Friends of Labour held at the Presidential…

FORMER Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo has advised the outgoing governors to “be prepared for the visits of such institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit who may ask some questions that need answers.” Saraki, Dankwambo and others spoke on Sunday night at the farewell dinner for outgoing governors held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. They spoke to the outgoing governors on how to prepare for life after office. Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, urged the 18 outgoing governors to make the…

THE Katsina State Police Command has said that its operatives have killed a suspected bandit and rescued five kidnapped women in the Dutsinma Local Government Area of the state. The command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Gambo Isah, made the disclosure in a statement issued to newsmen in Katsina on Monday. Isah stated: “On May 14, 2023, at about 22:00 hours, a distress call was received that terrorists on motorcycles, shooting sporadically with AK 47 rifles, attacked Bajinawa Village, Dutsinma Local Government Area and kidnapped five women. “Area Commander, Dutsinma, led a team of policemen to Tashar Icce, a suspected…

NO fewer than 38 residents of Takalafia and Gwanja communities in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have been reportedly killed by bandits who stormed the area recently. The Pastor-in-charge of the Evangelical Church Winning All in the area, Rev. Daniel Danbeki, and 37 others were gruesomely murdered by the assailants during the attack which lasted from 9 pm on Thursday night till the early hours of Friday. However, a mass burial was held on Saturday for the victims of the attack which included women and children. The deputy governor of the state, Emmanuel Akabe, led a government…

THE Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola, has conferred an honorary doctorate degree to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad, and three others. The three others are Alhaji Muhammad Indimi, a philanthropist; former Gov. Boni Haruna of Adamawa, and Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo, a technocrat. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdullahi Tukur, made the disclosure at the university’s 27th convocation ceremony on Saturday. According to Tukur, the awardees are notable Nigerians that any university will be proud to have. Tukur congratulated the graduands and lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the bill for the conversion of the university from a specialised institution…

INDEPENDENT Hajj Reporters, a civil society organization that monitors and reports Hajj and Umrah activities in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, has urged the Federal and State Governments to subsidize the differences in the prices of air tickets of Nigerian 2023 intending Hajj pilgrims. On Saturday, the commission has announced an increase of $250 in the flight tickets of the 2023 Hajj intending pilgrims due to the closure of Sudan airspace because of the ongoing war in the North African country. The 2023 Hajj fare was based on airlifting Nigerian pilgrims through Sudan airspace to Saudi Arabia, whereby flight ticket prices…