Author: Editor

KANO Pillars Football Club has recruited 22 new players to strengthen its team ahead of the 2022/2023 Nigeria National League (NNL) season in a bid to regain swift promotion back to the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) The development was disclosed in a statement issued by the Media Officer of the club, Malam Idris Malikawa, on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, in Kano. According to him, the 22 new players will join the 18 players the club retained from the disastrous 2021/2022 season. “We had an open screening which ended recently, led by coach Evans Ogenyi, from that, we were able…

TEN thousand police constables that passed out on Thursday will be deployed to provide security during the 2023 general elections. The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, disclosed this at the Passing-Out-Parade  of the 2022 batch of police constables in Ilorin. “It is noted that after today’s event, all the graduating recruit constables will be deployed to complement officers on the forthcoming election security duties across the nation, in a bid to ensure a free, fair and credible electoral process. This event, which is taking place simultaneously in four premier colleges and police training schools across the country, wraps…

A KANO High Court Thursday sentenced one Sagiru Abdullahi, 29, to death by hanging for stabbing his stepmother Zainab Dan’azumi, 55, to death. The court had earlier convicted Abdullahi of Kurmawa Quarters, Kano, on a one-count charge of culpable homicide. Presiding Justice Aisha Mahmoud held that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the convict to death. Prosecution counsel, Mr Tijjani Ibrahim, had earlier told the court that Abdullahi committed the offence in June 2014 at Kurmawa Quarters, Kano. He said the convict dealt several machete cuts on the victim’s head leading to her death on…

AT the end of a year in which motherhood has been at the centre of impassioned debate in the US, a school in Texas for teenage mothers shows how young lives are being supported – and reshaped. It was early 2021, and Helen had been eating more than usual. The soon-to-be 15-year-old couldn’t explain why her appetite had seemed to grow so much. “Is this normal?” she asked her older sister. It could be, her sister suggested. But Helen had also been moody and would easily find herself picking fights with family and friends. Then her period was late. On…

KANO State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on Thursday assented the 2023 appropriation bill into law. Ganduje assented the 2023 budget during the weekly executive council meeting holding at government house. News Point Nigeria reports that appropriation bill was increased by N23bn by the state assembly, hence the total budget of over N268bn. It could be recalled that the governor had on 4th November, 2022, presented a budget of over N245bn to the assembly for passage. Ganduje appreciated the assembly for the timely passage of the budget and the through work conducted during the process.

A HUGE fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul as a result of an accident has killed at least six people, emergency services say. At least six people have been killed after a bus and truck crash caused a huge fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, the local fire department told AFP. Images of the scene in local media showed huge flames and plumes of smoke rising from the tunnel, as hundreds of firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control. The fire started when a bus collided with a truck at around…

THE five aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party governors have met with the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu in London, the United Kingdom, and the PDP is threatening to sanction them for anti-party activities. The APC standard bearer was said to have lobbied for the endorsement of the five governors during the marathon meeting which was held on Tuesday. Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Samuel Ortom (Benue) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu states and some political heavyweights from the South had vowed not to support the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over the refusal of…

ABDUCTORS have freed four students of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, after being  held in captivity for few days in Ondo state. The students namely; Florence Obadero, Oreoluwa Aregbesola, Ifeoluwa Ahmed, and Omotoyosi Olarotimi, were released on Wednesday evening after spending five days in the abductor’s den. News Point Nigeria gathered that the four of them were released after their families paid ransom to the abductors. Meanwhile, the exact figure paid cannot be ascertained as of the time filing this report. Findings show that the victims were abducted last week Friday while returning to their hometown of Ajowa-Akoko in Akoko North…

By Etim Etim HAPPy New Year, Your Excellencies! Let me begin by acknowledging that your public statements and political activities in the last few months have enraptured national attention and kept us in suspense. The formation of the G5 Governors is one of the biggest political events of 2022. The fact that the five of you collectively govern no fewer than 35 million Nigerians and some 12 million registered voters makes you the single most powerful political bloc in this election season. When G5 speaks, the nation listens and the PDP shivers! Your leader, Governor Nyesom Wike, has been particularly…

THE Kano State Hisbah Board says it has destroyed 25 trucks of beer and apprehended 2,260 suspected criminals in its operations from January to December. Dr Harun Sani-Ibn, the Commander General of the Board, stated this when he briefed newsmen at the board’s headquarters on Thursday in Kano. He said that the trucks contained thousands of bottles of assorted beer, adding that more bottles would be wiped out before January. “Most of those arrested for criminal offence were handed over to security agencies for necessary action, the under aged were reunited with their families. “In the year under review, in…

By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir A FEW good men, are always referred to; when history pens down the advocates of utilitarian morality and crusaders for a better world, fostering happiness for humanity from different corners of the world. Very rarely, women are thought of, recorded and celebrated, for their own efforts in shaping the world, and coming through as heroines of their own immediate, and sometimes larger environment. Mrs Maryam Babangida, was one of such very iconic women, who led a life of example; simple in outlook, yet tremendously impactful in the manner in which it has changed lives, and effected…

By Azu Ishiekwene The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will be shaken to its foundations, but it will survive. The most problematic question for the party of course is who carries its presidential flag in the 2023 election, when President Muhammadu Buhari will step down…If Tinubu survives the ambush of the wolves in his party, the race is over – My precipitations, December 31, 2021 In the last three years, I have formed the dangerous habit of forecasting what the new year might bring, roughly speaking. The quote above was extracted from the piece I wrote on New Year’s Eve…

POLICE in Kaduna State arrested at least 780 crime suspects and recovered 1,446 rustled livestock in 2022. Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Yekini Ayoku told a news conference in Kaduna on Wednesday that the police also secured the conviction 116 of the suspects during the year. He said the police rescued 206 kidnap victims, recovered 49 rifles and other guns; neutralised 21 bandits and confiscated 15 bags of weeds suspected to be Indian hemp during the period. He added that the police also recovered 1,359 rounds of live ammunition and 17 bandits’ operational motorcycles in 2022. Ayoku noted…

THE National Assembly on Wednesday increased the 2023 budget proposal from N20.51tn to N21.82tn and passed it. The Appropriations Committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives said the  N1.3tn increase in the budget size was due to the additional funding earmarked for the National Population Commission ahead of the planned 2023 census as well as the N173bn appropriated for the Independent National Electoral Commission, ahead of the 2023 general elections. The Nigerian Army, Navy, Nigeria Police Force, and ministries of Agriculture, Health, Aviation, and Science & Technology also got reasonable increases. National Assembly also increased the oil price…

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has concluded plans to conduct sale of properties which are subject of Final Forfeiture Orders. The Commission on Saturday December 24, 2022 publicly announced the commencement of the auction exercise with advertorial in major newspapers inviting bids for the properties. According to the Commission, interested persons or organizations have until 12:00 noon Monday, 9th January, 2023 to submit their bids. The properties consisting of 61 Units of Luxury Apartments, Plots of Lands and Apartments across the country are being offered for sale in accordance with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act,…

GOVERNOR Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state has donated the sum of N17 million for the drilling of hand pumps at the premises of the famous Birnin Kudu Government College in Jigawa state. The donation of the funds aimed at bringing to an end of the water scarcity facing the institution. The governor also donated a Toyota Hiace bus to the Old Boys Association in addition to the sum of N3 million for the Unity College for the running of its daily activities. He donated the keys of the bus to the grand royal father of the day, the Emir…

THE Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai says the 2023 elections present Nigerians with the opportunity to take religion out of politics and punish politicians who use it as a tool. The governor on Tuesday asked royal fathers and scholars to pray for credible elections and improved security. He spoke at the commissioning ceremony of the head office of the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development. “I want to use the opportunity to call on our leaders here, the royal fathers, our scholars to continue to pray for peaceful and credible elections, continue to pray for improved security in our…

PREMIER League giants Liverpool are preparing to make an official bid for Villarreal wing wizard Samuel Chukwueze a few hours after sealing a move for Dutch forward Cody Gakpo. A host of Premier League clubs are in the race to snap up the Nigeria international but the Anfield giants appear in pole position to win the race for his signature. Liverpool pulled off the first major deal of the winter transfer window with the signing of Cody Gakpo. And according to reports, Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze could be next on Liverpool’s shopping list as the Anfield club continues to…

PRESIDENT-GENERAL of apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof George Obiozor is dead. Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State announced Obiozor’s death in a statement on Wednesday night. “On behalf of the government and people of Imo state, I, Sen Hope Uzodimma, the Executive Governor of Imo state, sorrowfuly announce the passage of a great son of Imo state and Nigeria, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof George Obiozor. “A renowned academic, an exceptional diplomat, statesman and a tenacious patriot, Prof George Obiozor passed on recently after a brief illness. “The death of this foremost Igbo leader and…

THE National Chairman of the rulling All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdullahi Adamu, has said it is a shame for President Muhammadu Buhari to hand over power to an opposition party in 2023. In an interview with BBC Hausa, the party chairman however said Buhari wants APC to win more than anyone else. Dismissing the criticism alleging that President Buhari is withdrawing from campaigning for the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Adamu said it is inappropriate for him to leave his job as president because of the electioneering. He said, “Things go the way we want, we are grateful to…