Author: Peter Noah KC

THE website of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has crashed amid the commencement of its recruitment. Checks by our correspondent as of 12:21 pm on Monday revealed that the agency’s website indicated ‘500 internal server errors. The agency’s recruitment application began Sunday and was expected to last for two weeks. However, for hours now, applicants have not been able to access the website. The Director of Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the development but explained that it was due to glitches resulting from traffic on the website. “The portal never crashed. There are glitches due…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally directed commercial banks to dispense old currency notes and to also receive same as deposits from customers, according to Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State, who is a former CBN Governor. News Point Nigeria reported how some commercial banks commenced payment of the old naira notes last week. The Anambra Governor said tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits. Soludo said the CBN Governor gave the directive at a…

FRANCA Afegbua, the first female senator in Nigeria, is dead. The Afegbua family announced her passing in a statement issued on Sunday. Afegbua, 79, was a native of Okpella, a town in Etsako-east LGA of old Bendel state (now split into Edo and Delta states). “The Afegbua family of Edo state has confirmed the demise of the first woman senator in Nigeria, Senator Franca Afegbua, whose sad event occurred this morning, Sunday, March 12, 2023. She combined beauty and brain during her service to Nigeria. Funeral details will be announced by the family soon,” the family said. She was elected…

FIVE suspected ritualists have been arrested in Ososa, Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State. The suspects were apprehended following information received by the Police at Odogbolu divisional headquarters. Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday. He said that the gang, who are responsible for a series of corpse exhumations within the Ososa community, were planning somewhere within the town to carry out another round of human parts harvest. Identifying the suspects as Oshole Fayemi, Osemi Adesanya, Ismaila Seidu, Oseni Oluwasegun and Lawal Olaiya, the police spokesman accused them of…

A REHABILITATED ex-fighter of the Boko Haram terror group, Alayi Madu and the traditional ruler of Kajola, a border community between Ondo and Edo state, Baale Akinola Adebayo are among 37 persons arrested over 2.2 tons of illicit drugs seized by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja, Lagos and in raids across 12 states in the past week. As part of ongoing operations to mop up illicit drugs across the country ahead of the next round of elections, NDLEA officers in the early hours of Friday 10th March, stormed…

THE Labour Party, on Thursday, knocked the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying the electoral umpire deliberately came up with its idea of reconfiguring the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines after its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, sought to examine the election materials. This was as the party faulted the commission’s claim of backing up the data retrieved from the BVAS without the presence of independent witnesses and representatives of political parties. The protest is coming barely 24 hours after INEC rescheduled the planned governorship and states House of Assembly elections earlier slated for March 11 in order to reconfigure the BVAS…

THE Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has begun investigation into the alleged maltreatment of over Nigeria-bound passengers by German carrier-Lufthansa Airlines The General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr Sam Adurogboye, who made the disclosure in Lagos, said the agency had got a report of the alleged maltreatment of over 200 Nigeria-bound passengers. A Frankfurt-Lagos flight, meant to arrive the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at 5:45pm last Friday, later arrived at 2am after diverting to Cotonou in Republic of Benin and Malabo, Equitorial Guinea. The aircraft had hovered over Lagos airport for one hour before leaving for Cotonou. On arriving Lagos at…

A MEMBER of the Senator Abdullahi Adamu-led National Working Committee NWC of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC is dead. Barrister Friday Nwosu was until his death the National Welfare Officer of the party. Popularly called FN Nwosu, the politician who was ill and said to have been discharged on Wednesday from the hospital hailed from Abia state. Confirming the development on its official Twitter handle, the APC said; “Words are not enough to describe the monumental loss brought by the passing of the Party’s National Welfare Secretary, Sir Friday Nwanozie Nwosu on the APC family. May his soul rest…

RECENTLY re-elected Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Orji Uzor Kalu, say he has misplaced his mobile phone. According to the lawmaker, his cell phone was stolen when he went to collect his Certificate of Return at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. In a post via his verified Facebook page on Thursday, the former Abia State Governor warned the general public to beware of any illicit activity involving his cell phone and numbers. “This is to notify the general public to beware of any illicit activity involving my cell phone and numbers. “During the collection of Certificate of Return at…

A MAGISTRATES’ court in Owerri, Imo State, on Thursday, remanded the immediate past deputy governor of the state, Gerald Irona, in prison custody. The presiding magistrate, C. N Ezerioha, after hearing the prosecution counsel and defence counsel, ordered that Irona be remanded in Owerri correctional centre. She further said that the court does not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter. Details in a while…

RESIDENT of the Federal Capital Territory and neighboring Nasarawa and Niger states encountered another level of hardship on Wednesday as more filling stations ran out of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol. An additional number of retail outlets went dry in Abuja and the neighbouring states, a development that triggered massive queues stretching several kilometers at the very few stations that had products on Wednesday. This time round, many filling stations belonging to major marketers ran out of stock, while those operated by independent dealers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had nothing to sell to customers on Wednesday.…

THE Department of State Services (DSS) has alerted the public of orchestrated plans by some persons to cause a total breakdown of law and order in the country shortly after the postponed gubernatorial and State Assembly elections. The Service also raised the alarm over what it described as unnecessary palpable political tension in parts of the country prior to the elections. The DSS also advised the citizens to shun fake news, hate speech and such other utterances that may be inimical to peaceful co-existence. Part of the DSS statement signed by its spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunnaya, stated that the DSS…

9 BRIGADE of the Nigerian Army Wednesday recovered 1,691 Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs in an apartment in the Olodi Apapa area of Lagos State, News Point Nigeria gathered. According to an Army source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, three persons were subsequently arrested in the apartment, also recovered were ballot papers, cutlasses and Indian Hemp. ”The public will know more as soon as we conclude investigation”, the source said.

THE scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, in Abuja and other northern states could persist till after Saturday’s gubernatorial elections in various states, oil marketers said on Tuesday. Petrol scarcity became severe on Monday in Abuja, Nasarawa, Niger and other states in the North, as thousands of motorists besieged the few filling stations that dispensed the commodity in these areas. The cost of petrol rose to as high as N400/litre at filling stations operated by independent marketers, while black marketers sold the product for between N450/litre to N500/litre. Many motorists resorted to accessing the product from black marketers,…

AHEAD of the March 11 governorship and state assemblies’ elections, the national leadership of the Labour Party (LP) says it has not formed an alliance with any political party. LP National Chairman, Julius Abure in a statement on Tuesday, urged “millions of the electorate who believe in LP presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi” also known as ‘Obidients’ to vote the party’s candidates in Saturday’s governorship and state assemblies’ polls. Abure said the Labour Party is leaving nothing to chance in ensuring that its candidates not only participate, but win at the ballot. “This call becomes necessary given reports from some…

THE Ebonyi State Police Command has declared the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Ifeanyi Odoh, wanted. News Point Nigeria gathered that, Mr Odoh and nine others were declared wanted on Monday over the death of a monarch, Igbokwe Ewa. Some gunmen killed the monarch last Monday in his country home. He was, until his death, the traditional ruler of the Umu-Ezekoha Community in the Ezza North Local Government Area. Details later…

THE Labour Party (LP) Candidate for Abia South Senatorial District in the just-concluded February 25 National Assembly elections, Chinedu Onyeizu, on Monday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct rerun elections in over 100 polling units in the district where he claimed voting didn’t occur. Onyeizu also alleged that the returning officer for the election, Prof Georgina Ugwuanyi declared the incumbent Senator for the district, Enyinnaya Abaribe the winner of the poll after receiving instructions from Abuja. The LP candidate said this was already after the returning officer declared the election inconclusive. Abaribe, who was deputy governor of…

DANGOTE Sugar Refinery Plc has reported a profit before tax (PBT) of N82.3 billion in the year ended December 31, 2022, indicating an increase of 142 percent to N48,28 billion over N34.billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2021. According to the annual report of the Sugar company, profit after tax rose to N54.74 billion, representing an increase of 148 per cent to N32.69 billion compared to N22.05 billion posted in the same period in 2021. All the performance indicators were on the upswing as revenue rose by 45 per cent, from N278.05 billion to N403.25 billion while earnings per…

AHEAD of the March 11 House of Assembly poll, former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, says his successor in office, Godwin Obaseki should not be worried about being impeached if he loses out in the contest. Oshiomhole, who is now the Senator-Elect for Edo North Senatorial District from the February 25 general election, stated this during an interview with journalists in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He maintained that if Obaseki had performed well as Edo State Governor, then he would not be worried about the electorate voting against his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “Of the number…

A CLERGY with the Church of Christ in Nations, COCIN, Rev Musa Hyok, was on Saturday night killed alongside two of his only Sons in the Ganawuri community of Riyom local Government area of Plateau. The incident which occurred in the early hours of Sunday was said to be a reprisal attack following the killing of three Youths on Wednesday in Ganawuri. Youth leader of Ganawuri, Song Mura, who confirmed the development to AIT said trouble started when some Suspected kidnappers were arrested during the Market day last Wednesday but later escaped in the hands of Vigilante who were to…