THE Kano State Government has asked the Federal Government for compensation after the Durbar celebrations were cancelled for two consecutive years. The state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Tajo Uthman, made the call on Sunday during the Sallah homage paid by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf at the Government House. Uthman said the state had suffered huge financial losses due to the suspension of the annual cultural event, which traditionally attracts local and international tourists. “The Durbar is recognised by UNESCO as a heritage event. During the festivities, Kano…
Author: Sadiq Muhammad
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FIVE months after the National Identity Management Commission authorised the Nigerian Correctional Service to register inmates for National Identity Numbers, the registration process has still not begun in custodial centres nationwide, this newspaper gathered. The initiative, approved in January 2025, is intended to integrate inmates into national development plans, enhance their security, and facilitate their identification in the event of jailbreaks. The NIMC had granted the NCoS the license to conduct the registration at 256 custodial centres nationwide, following a request by the Controller General of Corrections, Sylvester Nwakuche. Nwakuche made the request during a visit to the Director-General of…
TO recover import duties from some private jet owners in the country, the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Customs Service, has grounded about 60 private jets across major airports in Nigeria. It was also gathered that private jet hangars in Lagos and Abuja airports were reportedly sealed up. However, owners of the aircraft, including bank chiefs and multinational oil companies among other individuals, have begun to lobby the Presidency to secure the release of their jets. Some of the grounded luxury aircraft include Bombardier BD-700 Global 6000, BD-700 Global 6500, BD-700 Global 7500, among others. Officials of the NCS and…
Says 207 Containers Destroyed In Coordinated Operation THE National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has said the Federal Government is prioritising the fight against illicit drugs due to its far-reaching impact on national security and the wellbeing of citizens. He linked the use of illicit substances—especially among young people—to rising insecurity, noting that many terrorists are often serial abusers of narcotics. According to him, this fuels criminality and undermines national stability. Ribadu said the government remains committed to supporting the ongoing inter-agency operation targeting illegal and counterfeit pharmaceuticals. He stressed that the goal is to rid the country of dangerous substances…
THE Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a fresh application at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking an order to restrain Professor Pat Utomi, the 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), from making public statements or holding rallies related to a pending suit against him. The application, filed on Wednesday, follows intelligence reports suggesting that Utomi, who is reportedly abroad, plans to engage in public protests, road shows, media interviews, and other related activities upon his return to Nigeria on June 6. These actions, the DSS argues, are tied to his proposed formation of a…
THE National Emergency Management Agency says it has deployed its officials in 15 high-risk states to further enlighten residents on the impending floods and the need to relocate from flood-prone areas, saying victims of the tragedy in Mokwa, Niger State lived in gully areas and were caught unawares by the recent flooding disaster in the state despite official warnings. Head of the Press Unit at NEMA, Manzo Ezekiel, said the states include Kogi, Imo, Enugu, Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, Zamfara, Katsina and the Federal Capital Territory. He lamented that many victims of the May 23 flooding built their residences in gully…
THE Nigerian Communications Commission has directed Deposit Money Banks to start deducting charges for unstructured supplementary service data transactions directly from users’ mobile airtime. According to an email from the United Bank for Africa to customers on Tuesday, the charges will no longer be deducted from customers’ accounts. The UBA said the directive takes effect from Tuesday, June 3. The statement reads, “In line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from your bank account. “Going forward, these charges will…
THE Kano State Police Command has reiterated the ban on all Durbar activities across the state during the upcoming Eid-el-Kabir celebrations, citing security concerns. This newspaper reports that the announcement comes just hours after the Kano Emirate Council issued a circular inviting traditional leaders and their horsemen to participate in the annual Sallah Durbar festivities. In a statement released and jointly issued with sister security agencies, the police congratulated Muslim faithful and law-abiding residents ahead of the Eid celebrations, while urging strict adherence to public safety directives. The police noted that following credible intelligence and prior security assessments, all forms…
OVER 1,500 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators may have to shut down operations across Nigeria as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation deadline elapsed on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. This has sparked fears of job losses in the sector and potential underground market activity. President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe told this newspaper that over 95 per cent of licensed operators failed to meet the new minimum capital requirements of N500 million for Tier 2 and N2 billion for Tier 1, set by the CBN, leading to an industry-wide shakeout. Gwadabe,…
THE Presidency has begun internal approval processes to resolve the N2trn legacy debt owed to electricity generation companies before the end of the coming quarter, as part of efforts to stabilise Nigeria’s power sector. A representative of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Eriye Onagoruwa, disclosed this on Monday at the second Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry Stakeholders Meeting of 2025, hosted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Onagoruwa said the Presidency recognises the urgency of addressing the debt overhang, which has strained GenCos and impeded electricity supply nationwide. She revealed that alternative debt instruments are being explored due…
THE Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Monday, censured former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi over his hunger comment. At a media parley in the nation’s capital Abuja, Wike said Amaechi can’t stay out of power and his hunger comment was an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians. Wike said with over two unbroken decades in various top public offices, Amaechi can’t claim that he is hungry for food. Wike and Amaechi are both political gladiators in oil-rich Rivers State in Nigeria’s riverine Niger Delta area. The two share a history of being former governors. Incidentally, Wike…
THE management of BUA Group has challenged the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to specify the clause or clauses violated by the group in its decision to terminate the port concession agreement with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Responding to Usman’s claims justifying the abrogation of the concession in a statement made available to News Point Nigeria on Sunday, BUA questioned Bala-Usman’s decision to ignore court judgments on the issue and the arbitration process initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari. While affirming that Tinubu has further consolidated on the due process rejected by…
AUTHORITIES of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have announced that the 2025 Arafah sermon will be broadcast live in Hausa, Yoruba, Fulani and 34 other languages. This will allow pilgrims and listeners worldwide to follow the sermon in their native language, according a message by the authorities. “The Hajj Khutbah 1446 will be translated into 34 languages on Thursday, 9 Dhul Hijjah 1446,” the post reads. “The languages include Arabic, Urdu, English, French, Indonesian, Persian (Farsi), Hausa, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian, Bengali, Turkish, Malay (Bahasa Melayu) and Spanish. Others are; Portuguese, Italian, German, Filipino (Tagalog), Amharic (Ethiopia), Bosnian, Hindi, Dutch, Thai,…
A FORMER Governor of Rivers State and two-time Minister of Transport, Rotimi Ameachi, has revealed that he refused to vote or work for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because he was convinced that he could not lead Nigeria. Amaechi, during a public lecture to celebrate his 60th birthday, said, “I met President Tinubu in Yola and I told him I will not work for you and I will not vote for you. “I told him like that. People have been saying I do not work for All People’s Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that is because I was convinced…
THE Special Adviser on Policy Coordination to the President, Hadiza Bala Usman, has accused the chairman of BUA Group, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu of “persistently violating his contractual obligations” to Nigeria. Usman, a one-time managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), spoke in response to Rabiu’s article titled, “Two years of President Tinubu: A business perspective.” Rabiu had in the article made reference to how a concession agreement on the operation of Rivers port was terminated by Usman during her tenure as the NPA managing director in a renewed battle between her and the group between 2016 and 2021.…
GOVERNOR Kefas Agbu of Taraba State has opened up on the circumstances surrouding the killing of his sister, Atsi kefas, reportedly shot by kidnappers along Wukari-Chinkai road last year. Kefas revealed that a police escort attached to his mother’s escorts shot and killed his sister while travelling from Jalingo to Abuja, along the Wukari-Chinkai Road in 2024. He stated this while interacting with journalists in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, saying investigation revealed that a police escort shot Atsi at a close range. He further disclosed that pellets of gun were found in the victim’s body during operation before she…
SENATOR representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has said it is illegal for properties to be seized, revoked, or sealed solely on account of failure to pay ground rent. Reacting to the ongoing development in the capital city, the lawmaker warned FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, not to run foul of the law. The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on the authority of Wike, had revoked over 4,700 properties, whose owners were said to have failed to pay ground rent for decades. The Administration, on Monday, began the sealing of the affected properties, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service…
THE fact-finding committee of the Peoples Democratic Party National Caucus, led by Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas, informed the 99th National Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s National Secretary. On Monday, the NEC established a three-member committee led by Kefas, with Governors Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Peter Mbah (Enugu), PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade SAN, as members, to verify whether INEC recognised Anyanwu, a loyalist of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, as the party’s scribe. Multiple sources, including a NEC member, who spoke to this newspaper…
A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Kaduna has awarded N900 million in damages against former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and five others for violating the fundamental human rights of Adara elders illegally detained in 2019. Justice Hauwa’u Buhari delivered the ruling on Tuesday in a suit filed by Awemi Dio Maisamari and eight other Southern Kaduna Adara elders. The court ruled that El-Rufai personally orchestrated their arbitrary arrest, and is therefore liable for the N900 million compensation. The court also awarded N10 million in general damages and N10 million in special damages against the Nigeria Police Force, the…
FORMER Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is an integral part of Nigeria’s democratic history and that the continued existence of the party is tied to the country’s survival. The founding PDP member, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm programme aired on Tuesday monitored by News Point Nigeria, said should the PDP crumble, Nigeria would breed an emperor as president. The septuagenarian powerbroker said, “If the PDP collapses, Nigeria will collapse. Where there is no opposition, then there will be an emperor. When the party collapses, then you have an emperor all…