Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani

THE chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Isa-Kwarra, on Thursday, hinted at how N224 billion released by the Federal Government for the 2023 housing and population census was spent. The initial money budgeted for the exercise was N800 billion but was cut short after the postponement. Isa-Kwara mentioned in Abuja during a breakfast meeting with a select media executives that the N224 billion has been spent on preparations for the exercise which include printing of papers, and training of adhoc staff members, among many other miscellaneous. Recall that the President Muhammadu Buhari postponed the census after several meetings with…

THE Nigerian Army has rescued another Chibok school girl, Saratu Dauda, who escaped from the captivity of Ukuba terrorists in the Sambisa forest, Borno State. The Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, Maj-Gen Ibrahim Ali, said the ground troops took custody of the 25-year-old Dauda on May 6, 2023. While handing her over to the state Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, on Monday in Maiduguri, General Ali, revealed that Dauda was married to one Abu Yusuf an Improvised Explosive Devices’ Boko Haram expert. He further stated that the kidnapped victim had three children with her forced…

 – Wife, Children Taken Into Police Custody A MIDDLE-AGED man, suspected to be a Boko Haram suicide bomber, has killed himself with an improvised explosive device (IED) in order to evade arrest by security operatives in Kaduna State. The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday at Keke community in the Chikun Local Government Area of the state. Police Public Relations Officer in Kaduna, Muhammed Jalige, confirmed the development to News Point Nigeria in a telephone conversation, saying he is awaiting the full details of the incident from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Millennium City. However, a…

ALL Nigerian students fleeing war-torn Sudan have been successfully evacuated from Sudan. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) made the announcement on the Federal Government’s behalf on Saturday. Since the commencement of the evacuation exercise on May 3, no fewer than 2,518 Nigerians have been airlifted to the Nigerian soil. Saturday’s evacuation happened to be the 15th batch where 125 more Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja. The evacuees arrived at 12:49 pm on a Tarco B737-300 aircraft from Port Sudan. The latest arrival brings the total number of evacuated Nigerians from Sudan to 2,371. Upon arrival,…

BANDITS have attacked Fugge, a village in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger State and abducted the Village Head, Malam Abdullahi Zaure; his wife, Hajiya Amina Zaure and 49 others, mostly women and children on Friday. Besides those abducted, many cattle of the villagers were also rustled. Our Correspondent reliably gathered that the bandits invaded the village on several motorcycles and started shooting into the air to scare the villagers in broad daylight. It was also gathered that immediately after the attack some fighter jets were seen hovering over the community to locate the bandits. A reliable source from the…

FACED with difficult options of asking pilgrims to pay additional fee for the increment in air ticket , the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON may slash the BTA of pilgrims to settle the differences in air ticket as a result of crises in Sudan, News Point Nigeria gathered. Due to the closure of Sudan Air Space, the local airliners selected to airlift Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia have requested for an upward review of flight ticket by NAHCON and States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards, News Point Nigeria learnt. On Tuesday, Max Air, Azman Air, Air Peace and Arik Air…

MORE testimonies have continue to be heard from the military, even as the Special Independent Investigative Panel probes into the alleged Human Rights Violations by officers of the Armed Forces during counter-insurgency operations in the North East. At its resumed hearing on Friday, May 12, the Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army Amour Corp (NAAC) Headquarters Bauchi and former Garrison Commander, 7 Div Garrison Maiduguri, Brigadier General Haruna Garba testified before the seven-man panel led by a former justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Abdul Aboki. Brigadier Garba denied an allegation by Reuters suggesting that the military has over…

ANOTHER batch of Nigerians stranded in war-torn Sudan have arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. News Point Nigeria reports that, the evacuees, 136 in number, arrived in a Tarco Aviation aircraft via Port Sudan at 9:30am, Wednesday, to make the seventh batch of returnees from Sudan. While noting that this is the 11th aircraft that has evacuated Nigerians from Sudan, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says a total of 2,002 Nigerians comprising men, women, children and pregnant women have so far been evacuated since the war broke out in the North African country. Tarco Aviation has so…

THREE of the remaining seven girls of the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, being held by bandits have been released. Those released are Elizabeth Ogechi Nwafor, Esther Sunday and Aliya Abubakar. The chairman of parents of the Abducted School Girls’ Forum, Malam Salim Kaoje told our correspondent that the newly released girls arrived Kebbi on Monday afternoon. “Yes they released three of the school girls to us on Sunday evening. They are already with the State Government”, Kaoje said. He did not state if any ransom was paid. Recall that 96 of the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri,…

The National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced zoning for the leadership of the 10th National Assembly. According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka on Monday, the the zoning arrangement reported to the NWC is as follows: Senate President – South South Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Deputy Senate President – North West-Senator Barau Jubrin (Kano). Others are Speaker House of Representatives North West – Hon. Abass Tajudeen (Kaduna), Deputy Speaker South East-Hon. Ben Kalu (Abia). The announcement of the zoning arrangement according to Morka, followed a meeting on…

THE Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, the nation’s capital has adjourned its sitting to Tuesday. It also adjourned for the continuation of pre-hearing proceedings till Wednesday for the petition of the Labour Party and Peter Obi and that of the Action Peoples Party (APP). The proceedings Tuesday will have Atiku Abubakar’s petition and Allied People’s Movement in its schedule. News Point Nigeria  had reported the commencement of the tribunal’s pre-hearing of the petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election. The Independent National Electoral Commission, Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress polled 8,794,726 votes to…

GUNMEN have kidnapped the Chairman of Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State Boyi Manja and also killed his police orderly.  He was abducted at the Kofai Ahmadu community along Takum-Wukari federal road on Sunday. A close friend of the abducted council chairman who preferred anonymity told News Point Nigeria that the orderly was shot dead while in a shootout with the kidnappers before he was abducted. According to him, the abducted chairman, his police officer, and his driver left Jalingo the state capital for Takum but were trailed by his suspected abductors. The police spokesman in the state Abdullahi…

ABDUL’AZIZ Yari, former Zamfara State Governor and a Senator-elect, has vowed to go ahead with his Senate presidency bid. News Point Nigeria reports that other contenders for the position, like Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi and Senator Ali Ndume (Borno) have withdrawn from the race and backed the party’s choice of former Akwa-Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio. But Yari said Akpabio’s endorsement by President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu would, not stop him from the contest. He spoke while meeting with the executives of the Tinubu/Shettima Network (TSN), headed by its National Chairman, Kailani Muhammad, in Abuja, on Saturday. He said the…

THE second batch of Sudanese evacuees arrived in Nigeria on Friday afternoon. They arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja around 3:30 pm with about 130 persons aboard the Taco Airline aircraft. They were 128 females and two males. Earlier, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) tweeted about their arrival. It said the flight “Left Port Sudan International Airport today, 5th May 2023, at 8:00 am local time, with 130 Nigerian nationals (Evacuees) 128 females and 2 males. 130 Nigerian nationals (Evacuees) 128 females and 2 males. “Estimated time of arrival Port Sudan (PZU) to Juba (JUB)= 2hrs…

SUSPENDED Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa Ari says he never regretted announcing Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state. Ari, who stated this in an interview with BBC Hausa, asserted that he acted within the confines of relevant laws before declaring the APC candidate as the Governor-elect before his decision was declared null and void by the national arm of the electoral body in Abuja. Ari had courted controversy after the supplementary election in Adamawa State on April 15, 2023 when he announced…

THE suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa Ari, a lawyer, has explained that he announced results of 69 polling units in the April 15 supplementary election due to security pressure. Ari stated this in a letter to the Inspector General of Police explaining his part in the controversial April 16 announcement of the governorship election, which put the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Aishatu Ahmed (Binani) as winner against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and governor of the state, Ahmadu Fintiri. In the letter, which was copied the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission…

THE Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Saturday said the Mission in Egypt was making arrangements for the payment of visa fees for stranded Nigerians at the border of the country. The Federal Government had on Friday called on relevant authorities along contiguous borders of Sudan to create a humane condition for about 7,000 nationals, including Nigerians, to have unfettered access to their various destinations. Dabiri-Erewa, who made this call, said the nationals were not being allowed to cross the border into Egypt since their arrival on Thursday evening. However, giving updates on the stranded Nigerians at the…

THE National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has called for a meeting of the party’s administrative organ, the National Working Committee. The meeting scheduled for next Wednesday was revealed in a leaked circulation to all NWC members. The development is coming barely 24 hours after Adamu and the party’s National Secretary, Senator Iyiola Omisore, were dragged to court by a high-ranking member of the NWC, Mallam Salihu Lukman, over an alleged breach of the party’s constitution. The face-off between the Kaduna politician and the APC national chairman has been recurring in the last one year.…

PRESIDENT_ELECT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has concluded plans to pair the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, with Senator Jibrin Barau as Senate president and deputy respectively, Daily Trust has exclusively gathered. Akpabio and Barau are among the nine contenders for the Senate presidency of the 10th assembly, expected to be inaugurated on June 13. Credible sources told this paper that the president-elect, who returned to the country on Monday after 34 days abroad, communicated his decision to Akpabio and Barau during a meeting held in Abuja. The former Lagos State governor had on Tuesday met with Akpabio,…

JUSTICE Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja has dismissed the bail application filed by detained alleged terrorists negotiator, Tukur Mamu. News Point Nigeria reports that, in a ruling, Justice Ekwo held that the application was without merit and that the applicant failed to provide sufficient materials to move the court to exercise its description in his favour. Justice Ekwo noted that the defendant failed to rebut the prosecution’s claim that there was a likelihood of him committing more offences. The judge held that although the defendant claimed the State Security Service (SSS), where he was being kept, could…