THE Nigeria Correctional Service has stepped up efforts to track down and recapture escaped inmates of the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre, Niger State. The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday, said the government would relocate a lot of correctional centres to create better infrastructure and security. Tunji-Ojo made the pledge when he visited the Niger custodial centre, where 119 inmates had escaped following a rainstorm that damaged the facility on Wednesday. This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Ozoya Imohimi. The minister said it was…
Author: Hamza Rufai
Read More
THE ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has unearthed how Kano state-led New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Thursday mobilised a crowd of persons in Abuja to protest against the continuous stay in office of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as the party’s National Chairman. The party, in a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the National Chairman on Civil Society and Support Group, Comrade Okpokwu Ogenyi, revealed that the Kano state government hired protesters from the street, mostly Kwankwasiyya members, some of whom are from the North-central zone, to demand for the National Chairman’s resignation. According to Ogenyi, the protest was…
PROFFESOR Nwoke Friday Chijioke, the former Vice President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, has spoken out against the press conference conducted by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), particularly in relation to its discussion of Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State. Speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, Prof. Chijioke criticized the EFCC’s approach, denouncing it as an unfair trial and labelling it as a form of media trial. He stressed the importance of discretion in such matters, emphasizing that institutions of justice, like the EFCC, should conduct investigations discreetly without…
THE Federal Government has revoked an additional 924 dormant mineral licences with immediate effect. The revoked mineral licences which include 528 exploration licences, 20 mining leases, 101 quarry licences, and 273 small-scale mining licenses, were disclosed to journalists by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. Recall that in November 2023, the ministry under the current administration made a revocation of 1,663 mineral licences, which was the first batch of licences revoked. Speaking during the briefing, Alake lamented the high rate of licence racketeering, as well as dormant mineral licences, which…
THE Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has reiterated claims that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), under the leadership of the former executive secretary, Simbi Wabote, “wasted” over $500 million of the industry’s fund on equity investments, private establishments, and non-performing loans. Lokpobiri was reacting to a recent media statement by Wabote that his office requested an increase in the NCDMB budget by N30bn for the minister’s office. “It is a blatant lie from the pit of hell,” Lokpobiri said in a statement signed by his Senior Adviser Media and Communication Officer, Nneamaka Okafor. Lokpobiri…
DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery has again reduced the prices of diesel and aviation fuel to N940, and N980 per litre, respectively. This comes after its widely celebrated price reduction to N1,000 barely two weeks ago. The price change of N940 applies to customers buying five million litres and above from the refinery, while the price of N970 is for customers buying one million litres and above. The Head of Communication, Mr Anthony Chiejina, who announced the development in a statement, explained that the new price aligns with the company’s commitment to cushion the effect of economic hardship in Nigeria. “I can…
THE Corporate Affairs Commission has revoked the certificates of incorporation of NIPOST Properties and Development Company and NIPOST Transport and Logistics Services Limited. This revocation followed the discovery of an illegal transfer of N10 billion in restructuring funds released by the Federal Ministry of Finance to the agency’s subsidiaries. The CAC, in a statement on Monday, said, “The General Public is hereby informed that the Commission, sequel to its powers contained in Section 41 (7) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No. 3 of 2020, revoked the Certificates of incorporation of the below-mentioned companies because the same was improperly…
THE Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun believes the country is not “mature” for state policing despite the myriad of security challenges facing it. He spoke on Monday during a national dialogue on state police held in Abuja with the theme ‘Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria’. “On the issue of state police, it is the submission of the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) that Nigeria is not yet mature and ready for the establishment of state-controlled police,” the IGP, represented by AIG Ben Okolo, said at the event organised by the Speaker of the House…
VICE President Kashim Shettima; former President Goodluck Jonathan and elder statesman Abdulsalami Abubakar are among dignitaries attending a dialogue on state police. The event holding in Abuja is organised by the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives with the theme Pathways to Peace: Reimagining Policing in Nigeria. While speaking at the event, the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun said the country is not ripe for state police. The police chief represented by AIG Ben Okolo cited abuse by those who want to score political points. He argued that some governors may likely use state police against…
YOUTHS of Ebiraland under the aegis of Ebiraland Youths Coalition have called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that nothing happens to the immediate past governor of Kogi state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello. The Youth, in a Press statement signed by its Coordinator, Mr Fache Onimisi Moses, said that some people in high places, conniving with other ethnic bigots from Kogi State, were working tirelessly, not only to put the former governor’s life in the harm’s way, but also to ridicule the entire people of Ebiraland. They said the simultaneous actions of the DSS and Police to withdraw the…
Describe Issue Of Evading Arrest As Deliberate Misinformation HUNDREDS of human rights activists, on Saturday, hit the streets of Lagos to condemn what they described as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s antidemocratic approaches to issues of law enforcement as well as unjust application of state power by the Federal Government. The Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisations, numbering over 120, along with a huge crowd of members and supporters, stressed that the actions of the Federal Government in the ongoing face-off between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, which took an ugly dimension…
THE Federal High Court in Kano has intervened in the purported suspension of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, by his ward. The court order came on Wednesday following an ex parte motion filed by Ganduje, seeking to enforce his fundamental right to a fair hearing. The respondents in the application include the Police, Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and nine other individuals. Ganduje’s purported suspension stemmed from actions taken by APC executives in Dawakin ward, Tofa LGA of Kano, on April 16, over alleged corruption. However,…
TROOPS of the Nigerian Army deployed in the North-East have announced the rescue of Lydia Simon, a Chibok girl who had been held captive by Boko Haram terrorists for several years. A statement from the Department of Army Public Relations said Lydia, who was on serial number 68 among the abducted missing Chibok Secondary School girls, was rescued along with her three children by troops conducting Operation Desert Sanity III, around Ngoshe in the Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. Lydia is five months pregnant at the time of her rescue and claimed to be from Pemi Town in…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been asked to call the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to order as the anti-graft agency exhibits another flagrant disregard for rule of law in an attempt to arrest former Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello. Despite a subsisting Order of injunction granted on 9th February 2024 by the High Court of Justice, Lokoja Division in Suit No. HCL/68M/2024 between Alhaji Yahaya Bello v. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, restraining the Commission either by itself or its agents from harassing, arresting, detaining or prosecuting Alhaji Yahaya Bello, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive…
THE embattled Chairman of the Kano State Anti-Corruption and Public Complaints Commission, Muhuyi Magaji, says he is being instigated by some persons to investigate the current governor of the state, Abba Kabir. Magaji, who stated this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme monitored by News Point Nigeria on Tuesday said he started probing the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, when he was governor of the state. Magaji said though he was appointed by Ganduje to head the agency, he won’t hesitate to prosecute alleged corruption by the immediate-past administration in the state. He said, “Incidentally,…
THE Federal Government has warned that 148 Local Government Areas in 31 states of the federation, fall within the high flood-risk areas. This was disclosed in Abuja by Minister of Water Resources, Prof Joseph Utsev while presenting the general highlights of the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook prepared by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency on Tuesday. Utsev listed the high flood-risk areas as, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Yobe. The floods are expected between…
THE Federal Government paid about N205bn as electricity subsidy in the third quarter of last year, according to data obtained from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) latest report. The Commission’s third quarterly market report revealed the government incurred a subsidy obligation of about ₦205bn in 2023/Q3 (average of ₦68bn per month), which is an increase of ₦69bn compared to the ₦135bn (average of ₦45bn per month) incurred in 2023/Q2. This increase in subsidy payment, according to the report, was largely attributable to the government’s policy to harmonise exchange change rates due to the absence of cost-reflective tariffs across all…
FOLLOWING the emergency security meeting convened by Governor Abdullahi Sule, the government of Nasarawa has proscribed all ethnic vigilante groups operating across the 13 local government areas of the state. Similarly, the state government has equally given two-week ultimatum to all ethnic vigilante groups affected by the order to hand over their uniforms and weapons to the state Commissioner of Police, Shehu Nadada. The governor cited the powers vested on him via Section 97A of the Penal Code as well as other relevant laws. Through an Executive Order No. 1 of 2024, signed by the Governor and issued on Tuesday,…
MINISTER of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, on Monday challenged all the appointees from the North in the current administration to come out openly and defend President Bola Tinubu. Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, specifically called on Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Special Adviser to the President on political matters in the office of the Vice President, and other leaders to take a position in support of the government. He said this following what he perceived as comments against the federal government by Baba-Ahmed the former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF). In a Facebook post in Hausa, on Sunday,…
NIGERIA has become the first country in the world to roll out a new meningitis vaccine (called Men5CV) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in a historic move. According to WHO, this is especially important for countries like Nigeria where multiple serogroups are prevalent. The new vaccine uses the same technology as the meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac®), which wiped out meningococcal A epidemics in Nigeria. The vaccine and emergency vaccination activities are funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which funds the global meningitis vaccine stockpile and supports lower-income countries with routine vaccination against meningitis. WHO stated that the…