Author: Peter Noah KC

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has arrived Dakar, the capital of Senegal, ahead of the 2nd edition of Dakar International Conference on Agriculture. Mr Sunday Aghaeze, the Personal Assistant to the President (Photography) confirmed this via pictorial reports on Tuesday night. According to the pictures released by Aghaeze, the Senegalese Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Country’s Seal, Sidiki Kaba received the Nigerian leader at the airport. The pictures also indicated that President of Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, met with President Buhari on arrival ahead of the 2nd Dakar International Conference on Agriculture. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports…

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, on Monday, ordered the All Progressive Congress to conduct a fresh primary in 11 local government areas of the state to determine the nomination of its governorship candidate for the forthcoming general election. The judges who sat during the judgment are: Mohammed Danjuma, Justice Abraham Biobelle and Justice Ibrahim Jauro. Reading the judgment in the appeal filed by one of the governorship aspirants, Professor Terhemba Shija, Justice Danjuma who read the judgment said the court agreed with Prof. Shija in his assertion that there was no valid primary held on May…

THE Indigenous People of Biafra has suspended Kingsley Kanu, the younger brother of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, from the group. The suspension of Kingsley, also known as ‘Kanunta’ took effect from January 21, 2023, according to a communique signed by the National Coordinator of the IPOB group in Germany, Collins Chinedu. The communique was made available to journalists by the IPOB group’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, on Monday. He was accused of engaging in activities aimed at bringing disrepute to the pro-Biafran group and its member family in Germany. The group said Kingsley had been using the name of its leader,…

AS the scarcity of the Premium of Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, continued on Sunday, oil marketers have stated that the cost of the commodity would cross N800/litre once subsidy on PMS is removed. Industry operators had repeatedly stated that the high cost of subsidy on petrol was a burden on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and was contributory to the prolonged crisis in the downstream oil sector. NNPC is the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, recently suggested that the government should gradually withdraw subsidy on PMS, stressing…

THE Federal Government has released half of November 2022 check-off dues deducted from the salaries of all lecturers of federal universities in the country to the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The Ministry of Labour and Employment had earlier withheld the check-off dues of the union. The ministry’s spokesman, Olajide Oshundun, in an interview said the decision of the government was based on the failure of ASUU to submit its audit reports. The check-off dues are the money deducted from an employee’s pay for membership in a union or an organisation that represents workers in a particular industry. The chairperson…

AHEAD of the 2023 general election, a US election observer, National Endowment for Democracy, NED, yesterday, disclosed that, the 2023 polls in Nigeria is unpreditable. Speaking with journalists in Abuja on the sidelines of an interaction organized by Yiaga Africa with the delegation from NED and other stakeholders of the 2023 general elections, President and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, NED, Damon Wilson commended Nigeria for the technology-driven electoral process and expressed optimism that the country would be the second largest democracy in the world in 2050. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the…

YET to be identified gunmen have killed two persons believed to be members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State. News Point Nigeria gathered that the attack occurred on Friday night at Mkpuma Akpatakpa village in Izzi Local Government Area of the state. According to information gathered by News Point Nigeria, the victims and others gathered for their political meeting before the gunmen invaded the area and attacked them. It was also gathered that the gunmen left the venue on their motorbikes immediately. However, two other persons said to have sustained different degrees of bullet injuries are currently…

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a cluster of cannabis syndicates operating in the Opuje forests in Edo State. In a statement on Saturday, the agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said massive warehouses and tents storing over 317,417 kilograms (317.4 metric tons) of the substances were destroyed and set ablaze in a two-day operation. Babafemi noted that this came barely hours after the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) vowed to make life tough for unrepentant drug barons and cartels this year. According to the agency, at least a…

THE European Union (EU) has warned that next month’s general election might not be held in parts of Nigeria due to a hostile “security climate”. Rudolf Elbling, the team leader of the EU’s Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria said the situation could create “a lot of legal implications for the entire process”. News Point Nigeria reported that, with the 2023 general elections on the horizon, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says there are neither considerations of nor plans for postponement. The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Tuesday afternoon, while delivering a lecture at Chatham House…

THE All Progressives Congress has disclosed the reasons why Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo and some other stakeholders in the party are not involved in the campaign of the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Since the APC flagged off its presidential campaign in Jos on November 15, 2022, some members of the party, including the Vice President have not been seen campaigning for their party’s candidate. Osibanjo, who has been seen attending other social activities, including the recently held centenary celebration of the Baptist Boys High School in Abeokuta, had been silent on Tinubu’s campaign since he lost at the party’s…

LIBERIAN President George Weah has added his backing for Morocco’s bid to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). The former striker, who is the only African ever to win football’s prestigious Ballon d’Or, awarded to the world’s best player, said he expressed his “fullest and strong” support for the nation who reached the semi-final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. This is coming 72 hours after, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited Liberia to attend a forum tagged “Conversation with the Vice President and Young People,” being hosted by his Liberian counterpart, Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, as part of activities…

SUSPECTED armed bandits have again attacked the community hosting the Abagana Internally Displaced Persons camp in Makurdi, killing eight people. News Point Nigeria gathered that the killers beheaded and took away the heads of the victims, including an entire family of six. Eight other persons were wounded with three of them in critical condition. The attack which took place on Thursday night when the community had retired for the night, is the second in two years in an attempt to hit the Abagana IDP camp where hundreds of internally displaced persons have been living since January 2018 when armed bandits…

THREE members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were killed on Wednesday when some of them led by the armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN) attempted to attack Agwa police station in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo state. The hoodlums had attacked the Agwa Central Vigilante Group office Group office, setting it ablaze and were proceeding to attack the police station before they were repelled. Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, in a statement that when the information filtered to the police, the command’s tactical Group immediately mobilized to the area. The statement said, “Sequel to…

THE Nigeria Customs Service, Port Harcourt Area 1 Command, has impounded four consignments with duty paid value of N112.68 million illegally imported into the country. The Comptroller, Ibrahim Muhammad, said this on Wednesday at the command’s port terminal in Port Harcourt. He said that the consignments consisted of four containers with 2,965 gallons of vegetable oil. “Upon credible intelligence, some contraband were uncovered and investigation showed that the containers were largely vegetable oil concealed in ceramic tiles, and some home appliances. “In view of this, the four containers are thereby seized. Investigation is ongoing, we know the agents are licenced and…

TWO more victims of the train station attack in Igueben, Edo State have been rescued. In a briefing in Benin City, the state’s Commissioner for Communications and Orientation, Chris Nehihkare disclosed that seven suspects, including two traditional rulers, are currently in police custody. Gunmen had attacked passengers waiting to board a train from the Igueben station in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State to Warri, in Delta State on Saturday, January 7 and abducted no fewer than 32 persons. The police had said the abductors, armed with AK 47, invaded the train station and shot sporadically into the air…

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in the country from Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, where he attended the third forum of the African Conference for Peace. The helicopter conveying the President from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport arrived at Aso Rock Villa a few minutes before 4 pm. His first foreign trip in 2023, the event saw Buhari honoured by the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum with the ‘Award for Strengthening Peace in Africa’. The President, in his address at the conference, stated that efforts must be intensified towards curtailing and preventing the circulation of small arms and light weapons, and curbing…

RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike has hinted that talks with his political allies in the G5 on the preferred presidential candidate to support in the February 25 election will soon be concluded. Wike spoke on Tuesday during a rally of the Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state. The governor maintained that the people of the state know their political bearings and will not play second fiddle concerning the general election slated for February 25 and March 11 2023. “Now, it is one man, one vote. All the votes must be in…

THE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu says a presidential run-off is a possibility after voters cast their ballot on February 25, 2023 for their preferred candidates. The electoral chief said INEC is prepared to handle a presidential run-off should in case no winner emerge after next month’s poll for Aso Rock. Yakubu stated this on Tuesday when he discussed the plans of Nigeria’s highest electoral body for the forthcoming general elections at a world-leading policy institute and think-tank forum, Chatham House in the United Kingdom. He said INEC had always prepared for the possibility of…

THE Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has warned the general public and eligible applicants not to pay anyone to get recruitment into the service. NIS in a statement said the recruitment process is free and selection is based on merit. Immigration recently opened its portal for the 2023 recruitment of interested applicants across the country into the civil defence, correctional, fire, and immigration services board departments. The government agency said that it does not take part in any form of cash transaction during the recruitment process. NIS urged the public and applicants to report any of its personnel caught collecting money…

THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest inflation report showed a decline of 0.13% between November and December. “In December 2022, the headline inflation rate eased to 21.34% compared to November 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.47%,” the NBS report partly read. “Looking at the trend, December 2022 inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13% when compared to November 2022 inflation rate. “However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.72% points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2021, which was (15.63%). “This shows that the headline inflation rate increased in the month…