Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani

THE Federal Government says it has cut down expenditures for the upcoming COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, Briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the Special adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said that the measure would save the government about N10 billion from the 11-day event. “Many Nigerians would recall that as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the federal government of Nigeria’s delegation to COP28 in Dubai, UAE, last year, there were some elements of outcry concerning the size of the delegation,” Ngelale said. According to Ngelale, the cutting down of the official expenditure is…

THE Chinese Government on Monday distanced itself from the legal scuffle between the Ogun State Government and the Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Ltd., which involved the seizure and eventual release of some of Nigeria’s presidential aircraft, including a modified Airbus A330. This was as the Presidency confirmed the purchase and delivery of the Airbus A330 business jet, which President Bola Tinubu flew from Abuja to Paris, France, on Monday evening. The Head of Communication at the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Gu Jiang, told this newspaper that “Chinese companies are private enterprises and do not belong to the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has fired Jalal Arabi, as Executive Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON). Ajuri Ngelale, Presidential spokesman, disclosed this in a statement in which he announced Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman as the new Chairman of the agency. “Professor Usman is a renowned scholar with qualifications from two Islamic centres of excellence — the University of Madinah and Peshawar University, Pakistan. “He is also well-grounded in Hajj operations, having served as the Chairman of Kano State Pilgrims Board, and successfully superintended the operations of the largest quota of state pilgrims in the country. “The appointment is…

PRESIDENT Tinubu departed Abuja Monday for Paris, using the new Airbus A330, which replaced the 19-year-old Boeing  B737-700(BBJ) bought under the Presidency of President Olusegun Obasanjo. This was disclosed in statement made available to News Point Nigeria by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Monday. According to the statement, the new plane, bought far below the market price, saves Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs, running into millions of dollars yearly. “The recommendation to replace the B737-700(BBJ) followed an investigative hearing by Nigeria’s parliament that questioned the plane’s safety record and cost efficiency, especially…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will travel to France on Monday (today), the presidency has said. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday. He said Tinubu would return to the country after his stay in the European nation. “President Bola Tinubu will embark on a trip to France on Monday, August 19, departing from Abuja, the nation’s capital. The President will return to the country after his brief work stay in France,” the terse statement read. However, he did not state the reason for the visit. This is coming two…

NATIONAL Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Ganduje, has disowned campaign posters which have appeared on social media purporting that he wants to contest for the seat of the president come 2027 against President Bola Tinubu. The former Kano State governor described the posters as fake and malicious. Ganduje in a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, said mischief makers were behind the campaign posters. The posters presents Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma will be Ganduje’s running mate. The statement reads: “This is to inform the general public that the poster currently circulating on…

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested a Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja after he tested positive for ingestion of cocaine. This was contained in a statement signed by the Agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday and made available to Channels Television. He said that the 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Monday, August 12, 2024, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha. According to Babafemi, Mbadugha excreted a total of 88 wraps…

TO reduce the cost of governance, President Bola Tinubu has issued a directive to reduce the size of Nigeria’s official delegation to the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings in New York, United States. Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale in a statement on Saturday said the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this in Abuja during a one-day retreat organised by the State House management for heads of government agencies under its supervision. Highlighting the need for the State House and agencies under its supervision to ensure that its functions are guided by statutes, regulations, policy decisions,…

THE National Peace Committee NPC on Friday revealed details of some behind-the-scenes maneuvers by partisans and other unnamed elements during the 2023 Presidential Election, disclosing how it came under immense pressure to get the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to either halt collation of the results or cancel the election. The committee led by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar disclosed this on Friday in Abuja when it presented to the public its 106-page report of the 2023 General Elections titled, “Nigeria’s Pursuit of Electoral Compliance: National Peace Committee NPC 2023 General Elections Report”. Before presenting the report…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has congratulated Nigeria’s former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida ( Rtd) on his 83rd birthday. IBB who became a year older on Saturday, was Nigeria’s military president from 1985 to 1993. A statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser, Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, says: “President Tinubu salutes the former head of state on this special occasion, noting his endeavours towards the development of the nation, especially in infrastructure and otherwise, notably the completion of the Third Mainland Bridge which at the time was the longest bridge in Africa. “The President acknowledges the role of General Babangida in…

THE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar has slammed the Ogun state government, saying, sub-national actors such as states should not enter foreign or international negotiations without the input of the ministry of foreign affairs or the Federal Government. He was speaking on the efforts being made to resolve the dispute with a Chinese company which has led to the seizure of three jets of the Federal Government by a French court. The court ruled that Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment should use Nigeria’s jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports as “security for its claim of EUR…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has departed Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, after a three-day official visit. During the visit, the President had some diplomatic and economic activities between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea rolling, including the signing of the Gulf of Guinea pipeline agreement. The resuscitation of the Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea Joint National Commission, under which many other bilateral activities have been set in motion and to be activated in November. President Tinubu, who was escorted by the Equatorial Guinean Prime Minister, Manuela Roka Botey, departed the Malabo International Airport at 4:03pm.

ZHONGSHAN Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, the Chinese firm that got a court injunction to ground three presidential jets belonging to the Federal Government in Europe, has initiated plans to seize other Nigerian assets in the United Kingdom, United States of America and in six other countries. This newspaper also learnt that the company had instituted legal proceedings in about eight jurisdictions globally, regarding the dispute. The other countries include Belgium, Canada, France, Singapore and the British Virgin Islands, documents relating to the case, which were obtained by our correspondent, were revealed on Thursday. This comes as the Federal Government…

THE Senate has refuted claims that lawmakers in the Red Chamber receive N21m in salaries and allowances. The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu (Ekiti South), made this clarification on Thursday in response to statements by Senator Sumaila Kawu. In an interview with British Broadcasting Corporation Hausa Service on Wednesday, Kawu claimed that he earns a cumulative N21m monthly in salary and allowances. He also stated that his “monthly salary is less than N1 million. After deductions, the figure comes down to a little over N600,000.” He further explained, “Given the increase effected in the Senate, each Senator gets N21 million monthly…

THE Presidency has broken its silence on a French Court for the seizure of three Nigerian Presidential jets. Citing Financial Times, this newspaper had reported how the court ordered seizure of the aircraft over a botched deal Ogun State government and a Chinese company. The jets listed for seizure are a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ and an Airbus A330-243 stationed at Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports. Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited,, a Chinese company whose export processing zone management contract was revoked by the Ogun state government in 2016, had approached the court. Responding in a statement…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu and Equatorial Guinean, President Teodoro Mbasogo on Wednesday evening in Malabo signed an agreement on the Gulf of Guinea Pipeline Project, further affirming the partnership for mutual development. The agreement covered legislative and regulatory measures for the gas pipeline, establishment and operation, transit of natural gas, ownership of the gas pipeline, and general principles. In his remarks at the event, President Tinubu, who is on a three-day official visit to Equatorial Guinea, said the signing of the agreement will open up new opportunities for gas exploration and employment. The president stated that the two leaders had discussed…

SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen. has withdrawn the controversial Counter Subversion Bill which stipulates that any Nigerian who refuses to recite the national anthem shall be fined N5 million, face a 10-year prison sentence, or both. The withdrawal followed the outrage and opposition that trailed the provisions of the planned legislation which many have described as draconian and anti-democratic. The Bill, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, is set for its second reading, where its general principles will be debated. According to the proposed legislation, anyone who destroys a national symbol or a place of worship shall be…

PROMINENT national personalities have continued with their criticisms against the House of Representatives bill prescribing a 10-year jail for those who refused to recite the national anthem. The Bill, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, is set for its second reading, where its general principles will be debated. In May, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the bill to revert to Nigeria’s old national anthem which was dropped by a military government in 1978. The newly re-adopted anthem, which begins “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” was written by Lillian Jean Williams in 1959 and composed by Frances Berda. The Bill “stipulates that…

THE Senate through its Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday slammed the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Police Force and 12 others for their persistent refusal to respond to queries raised against them in the 2019 Audit report. Briefing journalists in Abuja, Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Aliyu (SDP Nasarawa West), said since heads of the affected agencies refused to respond to queries raised against them in the 2019 audit report after several opportunities offered to do so He stated that going forward, any agency that refuses…

THE Federal Government has traced at least N83 billion in cryptocurrency and fiat money channelled towards the recent nationwide protests. They include $50m of cryptocurrency — $38m of which were blocked in four cryptocurrency wallets — and N4bn contributed by various political actors in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina. This was part of a presentation by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, at the inaugural meeting of the Council of State convened by President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. According to multiple sources with knowledge of Tuesday’s meeting proceedings, Ribadu, who presented on the topic ‘The Nationwide…