VICE President Kashim Shettima has summoned the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) Prof. Abdullahi Saleh Usman and board members of the commission for a meeting today at the Vice President’s Conference Room. A letter of invitation sighted by this newspaper, and signed by Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President, Sen. Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, revealed that the meeting slated for today was to brief the Vice President on preparation for the 2055 Hajj and outstanding issues. The invitation read, “I have been directed to instruct you to attend a meeting with…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will return to Nigeria today from his work visit to France, London, the Presidency has said. The President’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a post on his X handle on Monday. Tinubu left Nigeria on April 2, 2025, for Paris, France, on a short work visit. According to the Presidency, Tinubu used the retreat to review the progress of ongoing reforms and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary. The President’s latest trip had been faulted by major opposition leaders who criticised him for being away despite the rising insecurity in the country,…
OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a shipment of cocaine concealed 20 sets of religious books going to Saudi Arabia. This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi. According to him, the cocaine consignment consisting of 20 parcels with a total weight of 500grams and buried in the pages of the religious books was uncovered at a courier company in Lagos on Tuesday 15th April 2025 when NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) were searching through export cargos going to Saudi Arabia at…
FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has fired back at Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors who rejected coalition or merger with any other political party. “Indeed, the Coalition Train has left the station and would have multiple stops to bring on board Nigerians of all shades” Atiku wrote on his X handle yesterday. This comment is an indication that the former Presidential candidate and his political party have parted ways in the build-up to the 2027 elections. He also gave a hint of likely dumping the PDP to realize his bid to contest the election. He said: “Whatever vehicle that will…
AT least 15 million Nigerians are at risk of flood disasters in 2025, Vice President Kashim Shettima has disclosed. He made the disclosure at the commencement of a one-day Validation Workshop on the Anticipatory Action Framework for Nigeria held at the National Counter Terrorism Centre in the Office of the National Security Adviser Abuja on Wednesday. The Vice President, however, said the Federal Government is taking a proactive approach as against a reactive approach to forestall the disaster. He emphasized the need for collaboration among all the agencies of government at the states and Federal Government level to tackle floods…
THE Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared ₦1.578 trillion among the Federal Government, states and local governments for the month of March. This is according to a communiqué issued by FAAC and made available by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, on Saturday. According to the communiqué, the total revenue of ₦1.578 trillion comprised statutory revenue of ₦931.325 billion and Value Added Tax revenue of ₦593.750 billion. It also comprised Electronic Money Transfer Levy revenue of ₦24.971 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of ₦28.711 billion. FAAC said that a total…
THE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has inaugurated an ad-hoc committee to legislate in place of the suspended Rivers State House of Assembly. The event holding at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja is being attended by members designates drawed from the six geo-political zones. Addressing the 21-man committee, Speaker Abbas reminded the panel that its mandate is non-partisan, a call to legislate to ensure good governance, peace, and prosperity of the oil-rich state. He said, “Your task is to oversee Rivers State following Mr President’s emergency proclamation.You must not be partisan or biased.” Present at the event…
THE Council of Ulama of Yelwa in Shendam local government area of Plateau State has denounced the tagging of two law-abiding young tailors of the town as members of the Islamic State in West African Province (ISWAP) terrorist organisation. The headquarters of Operation Safe Haven in Plateau State, had on Saturday, 12th April, 2025 issued a press release in which it declared that its operatives had arrested members of ISWAP, neutralised a bandit and also recovered some arms. In the release signed by Samson Nantip Zahkom, its Media Information Officer, a Major, it publicised photos of 25-year-old Abdulkadir Dalhatu and…
GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to meet in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, today (Monday) in a high-stakes meeting aimed at addressing key issues threatening the unity and future of the opposition party. Credible sources told The PUNCH on Sunday that the emergency meeting, convened under the PDP Governors’ Forum, will address the controversy surrounding the reinstatement of the party’s National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, in a ruling delivered on March 21, 2025, invalidated previous lower court decisions that briefly installed Sunday Udeh-Okoye in the…
FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on Friday, embarked on what he called a post-Sallah visit to the immediate-past President Muhammadu Buhari at the latter’s residence in Kaduna. The opposition leader was accompanied on the visit by the immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai; a former governor of Benue State, Senator Gabriel Suswam; former Governor Muhammad Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State; former Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State, and former governor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, among others. Atiku, who took to his verified social media handles to disclose the visit, described it as a “wonderful time” with…
THE Federal Government says its naira-for-crude initiative with local refineries is not a temporary measure but a “key policy directive designed to support sustainable local refining”. The government also said the initiative is back in effect and will continue immediately, overruling the decision of the NNPCL under its former boss Mele Kyari which tenured the initiative. The Minister of Finance Wale Edun at a meeting with representatives of the Dangote Refinery on Tuesday said the naira-for-crude is still in effect. In a post on its official X handle on Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance said the Technical Sub-Committee on the…
THE Federal Government Has ordered all illegal miners to leave Zamfara state or face the wrath of the law. The govt futher stressed that mining activities in the state remain suspended pending the release of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to guide the resumption of exploration. The development followed reports of a recent lead poisoning in the Bugundu Local Council of the state. Reacting to the incident, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, noted that the ongoing ban on mining, imposed six years ago, should have prevented such incidents. Alake said the outbreak was evidence that traditional and…
A LONGLIST of notable politicians including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi are in talks to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP). This is according to the SDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election Adewole Adebayo. Adebayo said Atiku and Obi’s men are in talks for their principals to team up with the SDP, which recently welcomed a former Kaduna State governor and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (SDP) into its fold. “People are joining my party, and we are welcoming them. You can see how active I am…
THE Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed sadness over the recent frightening attacks by terror groups on defenseless communities in Plateau State, which resulted in the tragic deaths of several people, including children. The forum calls on the federal government to be constitutionally responsible for the protection of the lives and properties of citizens. It said this will ensure that such renewed attacks and killings on the Plateau and other communities in the Northern region and other parts of the country are stopped immediately. In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Tukur Muhammad-Baba, it asked…
THE Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, has pushed for the extension of the national service scheme from one to two years. The minister stated this on Saturday when the Director General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja. Alausa said the duration of the scheme can be extended with the expansion of NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Training programme content for corps members. “You have done so well as an organization. Let NYSC give people more opportunity to become job creators that will meet the needs…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced the appointment of a new eight-man Senior Management Team. The recent announcement followed the appointment of the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) and Board of Directors. Disclosing this in a statement on Friday, NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said the appointments all take immediate effect. “Following the appointment of the Group Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has announced the appointment of a new 8-man Senior Management Team on Friday,” he stated. “The team which will be headed by the…
DR HAKEEM Baba-Ahmed, the political adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has resigned, this newspaper reliably learnt. Impeccable sources in the presidency confirmed yesterday that the former spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) tendered his resignation about two weeks ago. The sources said Dr. Baba-Ahmed did not provide details of the reasons for his decision, only stating that it was on personal grounds. However, as of the time of filing this report, it was unclear whether the presidency had accepted his resignation. Baba-Ahmed was appointed Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of Vice President Kashim Shettima in…
VICE President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja for Dakar, Senegal, where he will represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the West African nation’s 65th Independence Anniversary celebrations. Senegal marks its Independence Day on April 4 each year, commemorating its liberation from French colonial rule in 1960. The annual celebration is a significant event featuring national parades, cultural displays, and ceremonies highlighting the country’s achievements and unity. A statement issued on Thursday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, said Shettima’s participation followed an official invitation from Senegalese President, Bassirou…
THE Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, declared on Thursday that he would sign the condolence registers of all persons who wished him dead. He spoke in reaction to a series of speculations that he collapsed last Friday in Abuja at a meeting and was rushed to France and died afterwards. But briefing journalists after inspecting projects in Abuja, Wike said the death wishes were calculated to distract him from the work he was doing in the FCT. According to the minister, the wicked speculation was initiated by his political detractors after the allegations made against the suspended governor of…
THE Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, threatened to withdraw all oil blocks from owners that have failed to develop them. This is against the backdrop of the Federal Government calling on international oil companies operating in Nigeria to ramp up investment in the country’s oil and gas sector, emphasising that the current administration has provided every necessary incentive to ensure seamless and profitable operations. With the Federal Government setting a production target of 2.06 million barrels per day in 2025, Lokpobiri said the government will begin implementing the “drill or drop” provisions of the Petroleum Industry…