THE National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has stated that the low turnout in payment of Hajj fares for the 2024 hajj pilgrimage will not affect its December 31 deadline as it would work with the number that pay. In a statement by its Assistant Director of Press, Fatima Sanda Usara, it was noted that the commission made it clear from the outset that it was “prepared to work with any number of registered pilgrims able to pay the N4.5million Hajj deposit by the December 31 deadline.” The statement was in response to a story by a national newspaper on…
Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani
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THE Senate has approved the sum of N28.7 trillion as the 2024 appropriation bill. The Senate, at plenary on Saturday afternoon, passed the N28,777,404,073,861 budget, which it increased by about N1.2tn. The President presented N27.5tn to the joint chambers of the National Assembly on November 29, 2023. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the sitting, said the National Assembly approved that Statutory Transfers would be N1,742,786,708,150, Debt Service would gulp N8,270,960,606,831; Recurrent Non-debt Expenditure would be N8,768,513,380,852 , while N9,995,143,298,028 would be for contribution to development fund for capital expenditure. The borrowing plan submitted by the President was…
THE Senate has summoned has summoned service chiefs and others over Christmas Eve killings in Plateau State. Those summoned include the Chief of Army staff, Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, Director General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, as well as the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. This move was occasioned by a motion raised by Senator Adams Oshiomhole during plenary on Saturday. He said they have to give adequate explanation on the inadequate…
THE police authorities in Nasarawa State have rescued a lecturer with the state university in Keffi, Isaac Igbawua, from his abductors. Igbawua, of the Department of Microbiology, was kidnapped by gunmen from his residence along Old Barracks, Kokona Local Government Area on December 27, 2023. A day after his abduction, the Nasarawa State Police Command arrested a student of the Federal University Lafia, Daniel Favour Chukwuebuka, and allegedly recovered arms and ammunition from his residence. This was disclosed on Friday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, in a statement. He said the lecturer was rescued by operatives in…
THE governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, says President Bola Tinubu has asked him to take charge and pull everybody together to spur the development of the state. Aiyedatiwa disclosed this while speaking with journalists after a visit to the President in Lagos on Thursday, a day after he was sworn in as governor following the death of the former governor, Rotimi Akeredolu. He said his visit to Tinubu was to inform the President of the recent development in Ondo State and to thank him for standing by the state during its critical moment. “I am here to see Mr…
PERSISTENT insecurity, armed conflict, and deteriorating livelihoods will continue to affect local government areas in Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara states, and the far north of Adamawa State in Nigeria until May 2024, the World Bank has predicted. This is as it disclosed that poor macroeconomic conditions are restricting access to agricultural inputs in the country. This is set to affect cereal production in the country. The global bank revealed this in its latest ‘Food Security Update.’ Estimated cereal production for the 2023/24 crop year is expected to be 76.5 million tons in West and Central Africa, which is…
THE Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has revealed that the National Assembly will pass the 2024 Appropriation Bill on December 30 to sustain the January-December budget cycle. He disclosed at a session with journalists in Iyin-Ekiti, Ekiti State on Monday, saying all federal lawmakers would have to cut short their holidays to ensure the speedy passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill. He said, “To ensure the passage of the budget, we abridged time to make all ministries, departments and agencies appear before the joint sitting of all the relevant committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives. “This has already…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor of Gombe State, Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, Inuwa Yahaya have congratulated the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on his 74th birthday. Extolling the leadership hallmarks of the former Governor of Kano State, the President describes Dr Ganduje as a thorough-bred democrat who has devoted his life to the service of the people and Nigeria. “I celebrate the National Chairman of our great party as he turns 74 today. Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje is a consummate politician and accomplished public servant who rose from the bottom of both…
THE Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Secretariat has called for police investigation over allegations of financial misdemeanor made by its former Director of Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo. News Point Nigeria had reported that Barkindo in a leaked letter addressed to Governor AbdulRasaq and sighted by our correspondent, opened a can of worms on the running of the secretariat, saying the NGF is now more transactional than developmental. Barkindo stressed that it is not an agent of change but “a conduit pipe for a few individuals”, and demanded a forensic audit of all the NGF accounts including those that…
THERE is a crack within the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Secretariat in Abuja, as top officials of the forum are at daggers drawn over alleged financial fraud and recklessness. This has triggered a letter to the NGF chairman and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, by the NGF Director, Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo. Barkindo in a leaked letter addressed to Governor AbdulRasaq and sighted by our correspondent, opened a can of worms on the running of the secretariat, saying the NGF is now more transactional than developmental. He stressed that it is not an agent of change but “a…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has felicitated Nigerians on the Christmas Day celebration, assuring the citizens of his administration’s commitment to alleviate their sufferings. Tinubu in his Christmas message to Nigerians on Sunday expressed optimism that the nation will witness a new dawn of prosperity. “Be confident that by the strength of our joint endeavour, we will shortly emerge into a new dawn of prosperity, peace, and irreversible progress,” he said. “As you celebrate this season, please spare a moment of remembrance and prayer for the men and women of our nation’s armed forces, bearing arms in our names and ensuring our…
FORMER Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has vehemently denied a report alleging his involvement in the alleged illegal withdrawal of $6.3 million from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. The report, published by an online newspaper (not News Point Nigeria), claimed that a special investigator appointed by President Bola Tinubu uncovered the alleged theft, which supposedly occurred on February 8, 2023 — weeks before the presidential election. The report further alleged that Mustapha, along with the embattled former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, authorised the removal of the cash from the bank’s vault…
THE Federal Government has instructed that Nigerians with expired passports who are planning to return to the country to celebrate the yuletide be allowed in without any hindrance. In a letter dated 22nd December 2023 by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Wura-Ola Adepoju, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, through the Office of Assistant Comptroller General, Border Management, the NIS asked that Nigerians “be admitted into the country with their expired Nigerian passports”. “l am directed to refer to the above subject matter and to inform you that the Federal Government of Nigeria in…
THE sacked governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele allegedly used proxies and acquired Union Bank of Nigeria for Titan Trust Bank Limited, a report by Jim Obazee, the special investigator appointed by President Bola has shown. According to the report, Emefiele used also used proxies to acquire Keystone Bank and Polaris Bank without any evidence of payment. The acquisitions were carried out separately over time as seen in the report submitted to President Tinubu on December 20, 2023. As a result, it recommends that the Federal Government should reverse the sale of the banks and also…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria has changed its stance on crypto assets in the country and asked banks to disregard its earlier ban on crypto transactions. This is according to a circular dated December 22, 2023, with reference number FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/002/003, and signed by the apex bank’s Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa. The circular is titled ‘Circular to all Banks and other Financial Institutions Guidelines on Operations of Bank Accounts for Virtual Assets Service Providers (VASPS).’ The apex bank stated that current trends globally have shown the need for crypto regulation. It said, “The CBN, in February 2021…
THE Federal Government has declared Monday, and Tuesday, December, 25 and 26 2023, and Monday, January 1, 2024, as public holidays to mark Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrations, respectively. The Hon. Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government felicitates with Christians and all Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora on this occasion. Dr Tunji-Ojo enjoined Christians to emulate the life of Jesus Christ in his practice and teachings of humility, service, compassion, and patience. He stressed that peace and security are critical prerequisites for economic development and prosperity. The…
THE National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has reassured all members and supporters that its interventions in Rivers State are yielding the desired results. PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba on Thursday declared that the party remains united and firmly on the ground in Rivers State and other parts of the country despite the challenges. This newspaper reports that the crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly took a new turn on December 11, 2023, with 27 members defecting from the ruling PDP in the state to the All Progressives Congress. A…
THE former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, illegally lodged billions of naira in no fewer than 593 bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, and China without the approval of the apex bank’s board of directors and the CBN Investment Committee. The Special Investigator on the CBN and Related Entities, Jim Obaze, found that the ex-CBN governor lodged £543, 482,213 in fixed deposits in UK banks alone without authorisation. Obaze submitted his final report tagged, ‘Report of the Special Investigation on CBN and Related Entities (Chargeable offences) to President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday. The report partly read,…
ACE journalist and former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has started a new show on Channels TV named Inside Sources. The show which will air at 9:00 am every Friday starting December 22, 2023 (tomorrow), is hinged on empowering the Nigerian people with accurate, diligent information about government workings, public policies and its impact. Inside Sources will provide viewers with a platform to consume an authoritative and knowledgeable perspective on national and global issues. “The idea behind the programme is to bring to the fore a kind of information that will be useful for the public interest,” Akande told Channels TV…
THE House of Representatives has directed its Committee on Aviation to invite the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to brief it on the status of the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, as of the time he left office. The former minister is expected to provide insights on a wide range of controversies surrounding the project. This followed the adoption of a motion moved by Tarkighir Dickson at plenary on Thursday. Presenting the motion, he said the former minister in 2016 proposed an aviation road map with national carrier as the signature project, and that he promised to deliver…