Author: Sani Nura

GOVERNOR Nasir El- Rufa’i of Kaduna State has lamented that the huge amount of money being spent by the Federal Government to subsidise electricity, petrol and foreign exchange is no longer sustainable if the country must be able to tackle most of its socio-economic problems. Speaking at the 12th Kaduna State Council on Health meeting, El-Rufai disclosed that the Federal Government spent N6 trillion on fuel subsidy for six months, N4 trillion to subsidise the naira and N300 billion to subsidise electricity in 2023. The governor, while noting that the the N6 trillion on fuel subsidy is a quarter of…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is to commission at least seven state government projects when he arrives at his home state Katsina on an official visit on Thursday and Friday. According to sources familiar with the president’s itinerary, projects to be commissioned include two multi-billion naira underpass at Kofan Kwaya and Kofar Kaura areas. Others include the overhead bridge located at the Government Reservation Area (GRA) roundabout, Katsina, new headquarters of the state internal revenue board, and the rehabilitated state waterboard in the state capital. Buhari will also commission the Darma rice processing company as well as the rehabilitated state General Hospital,…

THE Katsina State Government has declared Thursday, 26 and Friday, 27 January, 2023 as work-free days to welcome President Muhammadu Buhari to the state. The government said it declared the two-day public holidays to enable state, local government councils and local education authorities’ workers to come out en masse to receive the president. This was contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Culture and Home Affairs, Sani Bala Kabomo, Wednesday. President Buhari is expected to be in Katsina on a state visit, during which, he will inaugurate some projects executed by Governor Aminu Bello Masari-led…

A 62-year-old man, Bamuwa Umaru, has been nabbed by the Kano State Police Command for attempting to secure the release of a suspected kidnapper, Yusuf Ibrahim. The spokesperson for the Command, SP Abdullahi Haruna, on Tuesday, said Umaru was arrested after he offered a bribe of N1 million to a policeman for the release of the suspect. Haruna said the suspect upon preliminary investigation confirmed partaking in a series of kidnappings at villages in Katsina and Zamfara states and also confessed that their syndicate group killed up to 10 of their victims out of which he singlehandedly killed two. “On…

FOUR Palace staff (Dogarai) of Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi, have died from a fatal motor accident on Maiduguri-Damaturu highway. The deceased were burnt beyond recognition while three other persons escaped the crash with life-threatening injuries. The incident occurred on Monday in Benishiek area, along Maiduguri- Damaturu Highway when the Borno monarch and his entourage were travelling out of Maiduguri, and one of the vehicles in the convoy summersaulted and caught fire. The burnt bodies of the four palace aides were evacuated back to Maiduguri while the survivors were taken to Accident and Emergency Unit of…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of a 14-man Steering Committee on Petroleum Products Supply and Distribution management to ensure transparent and efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country. This was announced in a statement issued by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Slyva. The Committee will be chaired by President Buhari with the Minister of State for Petroleum as the alternate chairman. Members of the committee also include Minister of Finance, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Economic Adviser to the President and Director-General, Department of State Services (DSS). Others are Comptroller-General,…

TROOPS of Operation Forest Sanity of the Nigerian Army have rescued 16 people who were kidnapped by bandits during operations spanning Birnin Gwari-Kaduna Road in Birning Gwari and Igabi Local Government Areas of Kaduna State. The State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement made avaiable to News Point Nigeria on Tuesday, saying the troops responded to a distress call along the Udawa-Manini axis of the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna Road, during which they foiled the attack and rescued 16 persons in the process. He explained that some of the rescued persons who sustained injuries…

THE Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday,  struck out a case instituted before it by the the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its Governorship Candidate,  Muhammed Jibrin Barde against Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, INEC and two (2) others. The court, in a ruling delivered by Justice Binta Nyako, dismissed the allegation that the governor submitted forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualification. The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1301/2022, was brought before the court by PDP,  Mohammed Jibrin Barde and Timothy Danlele. Cited as 1st to 3rd defendants in the matter were the…

THE presidential campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress in Bauchi State ended abruptly over a fault in the electrical connection of the sound system. The rally which was ongoing at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi, on Monday, ended without a speech from President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmad Tinubu, News Point Nigeria gathered. A source in the APC campaign team, who spoke to News Point Nigeria on condition of anonymity said, the President and the APC Presidential candidate didn’t deliver their speeches as the power in the venue failed and couldn’t be fixed.…

GOVERNOR Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state on Sunday signed into law two bills on Zakkat and Waqf as well as Arabic and Islamic Education commissions. Hitherto, the decrees establishing the two as ‘boards’ was an aberration that needed modification, thus the initiation of the bills and their subsequent evolution into laws. This was in furtherance of his administration’s move to upgrade the services of the two bodies and make them more enduring in providing the dividends of democracy to the people of the state. The governor also inaugurated the of Almajiri Nizzamiyyah Education Model (ALNIZAMO), a hybrid of the…

UNKNOWN Gunmen in black uniformed attire invade the Gambar Sabon Layi community in the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State and killed no fewer than seven people. They also kidnapped a newly-wedded couple in the process, leaving the community in total confusion. A vigilantee guard, who spoke to News Point Nigeria on condition of anonymity said, the gunmen stormed the community early hours of Sunday and shot sporadically into the air to scare residents and local vigilantes away before carrying out the attack. According to him, the gunmen killed a traditional chief, a vigilante guard and five others…

MEMBERS of the Christian community in Gombe State have commended Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for exhibiting courage in leadership, and for executing viable projects across critical sectors of the economy. According to a statement signed and issued by the Director-General of Press Affairs to the governor, Ismaila Uba Misilli, Sunday morning, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Gombe state chapter, Rev. Fr. Joseph Alphonsus Shinga made the commendation when he led the Christian faithful on a new year homage to the Governor at the Government House. The religious leader, who extended on behalf of the Christian community,…

AS campaigns for 2023 general elections gather momentum, Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has intensified efforts to scout for more votes for the APC presidential flag bearer,  Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all other candidates of the party across the length and breadth of the state to guarantee a sweeping victory. The APC campaign team first made a stopover at Awak town of Kaltungo LGA where the Governor attended a civic reception organised in honor of the immediate past Chief Judge of Gombe State, Justice Joseph Ahmed Awak who retired October, last year. According to a statement signed and…

GOMBE State Government has reacted to the recent statement by the opposition New Nigeria Peoples Party, which alleged that it ordered the arrest of a radio journalist for hosting a member of the party in a political programme. The NNPP through its Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Makko, had accused government of not being tolerant to opposition. Reacting to the accusation, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information Management and Strategy, Ahmed Shuaibu-Gara, in a press release issued to journalists on Saturday, said the government did not order arrest of any journalist. He challenged the opposition to provide proof that…

THE Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has set up a six- member committee to engage the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address anomalies in the country’s monetary management and financial system. The forum disclosed this in a communique issued on Saturday at the end of its virtual meeting held with the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday night. The committee, according to the communique signed by NGF Chairman, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, is chaired by Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, with governors of Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Borno, Plateau and Jigawa states as members. The governors…

FORMER Enugu State Governor, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, has protested his suspension by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying his right to a fair hearing was allegedly violated. The suspension of Nnamani, one of several others sanctioned on Friday, was based on allegations of anti-party activities levelled against the Enugu East senator and was taken by the PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC). Responding to the punitive action against him, Nnamani took to his verified Twitter handle in the early hours of Saturday to disclose that the decision and announcement of his suspension came to him as a “rude shock” and “huge…

THE Peoples Democratic Party has suspended some chieftains of the party in Ekiti, Enugu and Imo states over allegations of anti-party activities. The party, late Friday, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, announced the suspension of the party chieftains including Emiola Jennifer, Ajayi Samuel, Olayinka Olalere, Akerele Oluyinka and Fayose Oluwajomiloju, son of a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose. Others are Ayeni Funso and Ajijola Oladimeji. Suspended from Enugu State is former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, and Chris Ogbu from Imo State. Ologunagba stated that the suspensions were with effect from Friday, January 20, 2023.…

NO fewer than six pupils at the Local Government Education Authority Primary School, Alwaza, in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have been kidnapped by heavily armed men who stormed the school premises on Friday morning. A source in the community, who pleaded anonymity told News Point Nigeria that, the incident occurred at 7 am in the morning when other pupils of the school were still arriving for the day’s activities. He said, “The entire incident is very confusing. We never expected that such a thing could happen in our community. “The school children, about six of them were…

ELECTRICITY is still not restored at the Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, after city officials disconnected the power on Wednesday due to non-payment. The consulate owes the power utility City Power over N11m (400,000 rand; $23,000; £18,000). Consulate staff refused City Power officials access to the property but the utility was able to disconnect the premises from the power grid remotely. There have bee  revenue collection efforts by City Power to disconnect various businesses whose accounts are in arrears. The utility is owed $232m in unpaid accounts overall. Following the consulate’s disconnection, the Consul-general visited the City Power offices…

THE Katsina emirate council has confirmed the dismissal of a top district head, the Makaman Katsina, the district head of Bakori, Idris Sule Idris, for allegedly aiding and abating terrorism in his domain. The dismissal was contained in a letter dated 19, January, 2023, signed by Kauran Katsina, district head of Rimi, Aminu Nuhu Abdulkadir, who is a king maker and a senior council member of the emirate. The Katsina emirate council has confirmed the dismissal of a top district head, the Makaman Katsina, the district head of Bakori, Idris Sule Idris, for allegedly aiding and abating terrorism in his…