THE Nigeria Police Force has dismissed recent reports alleging that 3,907 firearms are missing from its armouries, stating that the claims are misleading and do not reflect the reality of the situation. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, emphasised that the allegations stemmed from a 2019 audit report by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and do not indicate an actual disappearance of arms. “The report appears to stem from an assessment of the 2019 audit, which likely reflects records compiled before the tenure of the current Inspector-General of Police.…
Author: Hamza Rufai
THE four tax reform bills transmitted to the National Assembly in 2024 by President Bola Tinubu have scaled second reading in the House of Representatives. News Point Nigeria reports that the bills scaled second reading on the floor of the Green Chamber on Wednesday some six months after the President transmitted them to the National Assembly for consideration following the recommendations of the Taiwo Oyedele-led Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. The bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill. The bill, having…
THE House of Representatives on Wednesday began debates on the four tax reform bills transmitted to the National Assembly in 2024 by President Bola Tinubu. The bills are scheduled for a second reading on the floor of the Green Chamber some six months after the President transmitted them to the National Assembly for consideration following the recommendations of the Taiwo Oyedele-led Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. The bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, the Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill. The new tax bills were enveloped in…
THE National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has voided the suspension of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara. In a statement on Tuesday, National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the purported suspension violated the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017) and does not follow due process. He described the action as reckless and unconstitutional act, after the Abia state chapter of the party suspended Wabara for endorsing Governor Alex Otti for a second tenure barely five months into the governor’s administration in October 2023. “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the…
THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has recorded some achievements in its war against abuse of narcotic substances, especially with the cooperation of sub-nationals. The agency’s spokesman Femi Babafemi said some state governments in the country have embraced the NDLEA’s advocacy to make drug tests mandatory for appointees and employees. Babafemi made this known on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. He said, “It’s an advocacy move and that has been going on since 2021. Quite a number of state governments are already making this a policy in their…
FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that snakes, termites, monkeys, rodents and other mysterious animals must not be allowed to swallow the $1.07 billion earmarked for the health sector in the 2025 budget proposal. Also, in a fresh move to curb sleaze, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of the Initiative for Leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria have expressed their desire to team up with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on monitoring of the budget at national and sub-national levels to ensure optimal performance. In a statement he personally signed, yesterday, Atiku noted that bizarre…
KANO State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has appointed Umar Farouk Ibrahim as the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG). The appointment was announced in a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, on Saturday. Ibrahim’s appointment takes effect from Monday, February 10, 2025. According to the statement, Ibrahim was selected based on his extensive experience and expertise, which are expected to play a vital role in advancing the administration’s development agenda and keeping the state on track with its goals. Umar Farouk Ibrahim brings over three decades of distinguished public service to his new role. His…
THE Senate has ordered an investigation into allegations made by Niger Republic’s military leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, accusing the Nigerian government of colluding with France to destabilise the country’s internal security. This order followed a motion brought to it by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Shehu Buba (Bauchi-South). While presenting the motion, Buba emphasised that a major concern was Tchiani’s wrongful implication of Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai, in the alleged conspiracy. Tchiani alleged that the Nigerian government was facilitating the…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dissolved the entire governing council of the University of Abuja, now known as Yakubu Gowon University and relieved Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi of her duties as Vice-Chancellor. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement said, “The President also announced significant leadership changes at several federal universities”. According to the statement, “In addition, President Tinubu has removed Professor Polycarp Emeka Chigbu from his position as Acting Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), before his tenure ends on February 14.” See full statement below: PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu…
THE House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution announced on Thursday that it has received 31 proposals for the creation of new states across the six geopolitical zones. Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu read a letter from the committee during plenary, outlining the conditions that must be met before any state creation requests can be approved. According to the letter, the proposals include five from the North Central, four from the North East, five from the North West, five from the South East, four from the South South, and seven from the South West. According to the…
DEPUTY Speaker Benjamin Kalu has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to apply his power of prerogative of mercy and tamper justice with mercy for the release of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, from detention. Kalu made the appeal while addressing reporters after the inaugural meeting of the House of Representatives committee on South East Development Commission (SEDC) at the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Wednesday. The Deputy Speaker applauded the President for his continuous and tremendous support and commitment towards peace, development and stability of the South-East region. According to him, since…
TWO cargoes of jet fuel, averaging about 130 million litres, have been exported from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. Coming on the backdrop of projection by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that the 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery would disrupt the global crude and product market, President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, described the latest export as an achievement of the goals set by the organisation. The development may also indicate that Nigeria will be prioritising the Middle East in its ambition to become a refining hub amid the shutdown of refineries in…
THE President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the just-concluded budget defence sessions, commending lawmakers for their dedication in scrutinising the 2025 budget to ensure a workable financial plan for the year. The Senate President made the comment when he presided over the resumption of plenary after a two-week break. In the meantime, following President Bola Tinubu’s assent to bills establishing development commissions for various regions in the country, the Senate has conducted a minor reshuffle, appointing chairmen and deputy chairmen to oversee these commissions. According to Akpabio, Senator Babangida Hussaini and Senator Muntari Dandutse will…
FOLLOWING the recent suspension of development assistance by the new United States administration under President Donald Trump, Senator Adamu Garba, who represented Yobe South, has said scrapping the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) spells good news for Africa. In lieu of foreign aid, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), yesterday, approved N4.8 billion funding package to sustain HIV treatment programmes across the country. This was disclosed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, after the resumed FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. USAID employees are being placed on…
THE Police Service Commission (PSC) has reiterated that it lacks the authority to appoint or remove the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, amid speculations surrounding his tenure. “The commission does not have the constitutional powers to determine the appointment or exit of the Inspector-General of Police,” PSC spokesperson Ikechukwu Ani said in a statement on Monday. The clarification follows a directive issued by the PSC on Friday, ordering police officers aged 60 or those who have served for 35 years to proceed on immediate retirement. The decision raised concerns over Egbetokun, who turned 60 last year. Ani stressed that the…
THE Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on energy, Olu Arowolo Verheijen, has said her words were misrepresented during an interview in Tanzania. Verheijen had attended a World Bank-sponsored conference in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. There, she presented a $32 billion plan to boost electricity connections by 2030 on behalf of Nigeria. Bloomberg reported that she said Nigeria’s power prices need to rise by about two-thirds for many customers to reflect the cost of supplying it. Following the publication of the report, many newspapers have run amock with reports about the Federal Government’s proposed “65% increase in…
LOCAL Governments across the country are facing a fresh hurdle in their bid to receive their monthly allocations directly from the Federation Accounts. Each of the 774 local governments is now required to furnish the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with a comprehensive audit of its finances for two years as a prerequisite for direct remittance of their allocations, it was learnt yesterday. The direct revenue disbursement was originally scheduled to commence last month but had to be deferred at the last minute because many of the councils failed to submit the necessary details required to facilitate the direct payments.…
THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, says Nigerians condemn corruption yet rally behind corrupt leaders when they are being prosecuted. Olukoyede said underdevelopment would be a thing of the past if every citizen sees corruption as a common enemy. “Everybody is crying that Nigerians are corrupt, that the system is corrupt; that corruption is killing us and destroying our system,” he said while receiving officials of the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), led by Chris Olukolade, on Friday in Abuja. According to Olukoyede, collaboration and synergy with the CCC will boost strategic communication and…
SOLDIERS cannot return to power because military rule is outdated, former Military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, said yesterday. He noted that in the last 25 years, democratic rule has survived the onslaught of reactionary forces. Gen. Abdulsalami said he was proud of laying a solid foundation by handing over power to civilian authorities. Urging Nigerians and the political parties to nurture the tree of democracy, the former military leader said: “There is no alternative to civil rule.’’ Gen. Abdulsalami spoke at the launch of a book titled: “100 Years of Political Parties Evolution in Nigeria, 1923 – 2023’’…
GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will meet on Friday in Asaba, Delta State, to address the party’s deepening crisis. The emergency meeting follows a chaotic Board of Trustees (BoT) gathering in Abuja on Wednesday, where supporters of embattled National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, attacked former PDP Youth Leader, Sunday Ude-Okoye. The meeting, convened by Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, will focus on resolving internal conflicts, organizing the NEC meeting, addressing the National Secretary dispute, and reviewing the party’s state. Speaking at the BoT meeting, Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum accused party leaders of fueling…