VICE President Kashim Shettima is leading Nigeria’s delegation to the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. News Point Nigeria reports that the summit will be held from January 19 to 23, 2026. His arrival in Switzerland, to attend the forum, which brings together global political and business leaders, followed his visit to Conakry, Guinea, on Friday, where he represented President Bola Tinubu at the inauguration of President Mamadi Doumbouya. According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, the VP, on arrival in Switzerland, was received by the Minister of Foreign…
Author: Hamza Rufai
THE House of Representatives is considering a constitutional amendment bill seeking to prohibit the public parade of suspects by the police and other law enforcement agencies. News Point Nigeria reports that this follows the widespread condemnation the practice has witnessed from human rights groups, the judiciary and civil society organisations in the country for decades. The proposal, which forms part of the recommendations adopted by the House Committee on Constitution Review chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, is expected to be debated when the National Assembly resumes from the Christmas and New Year recess. At the centre of the…
BUDGETARY personnel allocations to several federal universities have recorded a sharp increase following the Federal Government’s approval of a 40 per cent salary increase for academic staff and the introduction of new and enhanced allowance packages. An analysis of the Federal Government’s 2026 budget estimates by News Point Nigeria shows that personnel cost allocations to the top 20 federal universities rose from ₦438.85 billion in 2025 to ₦533.1 billion in 2026, representing an increase of ₦94.25 billion, or about 22 per cent within one fiscal year. The surge in personnel spending follows a landmark agreement reached on Wednesday between the…
VICE President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at President Mamadi Doumbouya’s inauguration in Guinea-Conakry. The Vice President is also billed to attend the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, after his participation in the presidential inauguration in that West African country. This was disclosed by Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media and Communications, Office of The Vice President in a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Friday. The Presidential aide said the Vice President will represent President Tinubu at the inauguration of President…
THE United States plans to spend N587 billion ($413.046m) on counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria and other African countries in 2026 amid worsening security conditions across West Africa. The allocation is contained in the US National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026, obtained by News Point Nigeria on Friday. The funds were approved under Title XLIII – Operation and Maintenance. The security budget for the US Africa Command comes against the backdrop of the Christmas Day attacks on terrorists’ hideouts in Sokoto State by the Donald Trump administration. On Tuesday, AFRICOM delivered a consignment of military equipment to Nigerian security…
A FORMER member of the APC National Working Committee, legal scholar and public affairs analyst, Dr. Umar D. Duhu, has dismissed as baseless and destabilising recent speculation suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may replace Vice President Kashim Shettima with the Minister of Defence and former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, as his running mate ahead of the 2027 general elections. In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria titled “A Call to Reason: Quashing Baseless Speculations and Divisive Narratives,” Duhu described the claims as a dangerous distraction capable of inflaming political tensions and undermining Nigeria’s democratic stability.…
FORMER Kano State Governor and National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said he has not ruled out joining the All Progressives Congress (APC), but stressed that any such move must be preceded by firm assurances on the future of the Kano State government and the welfare of his political supporters. News Point Nigeria reports that Kwankwaso made the remarks on Wednesday at his Miller Road residence in Kano during a meeting with leaders and supporters from Rano and Dawakin Tofa Local Government Areas, alongside members of various Kwankwasiyya groups who gathered to…
VICE PRESIDENT Kashim Shettima, has commended Hadiza Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head, Central Delivery Coordination Unit, for her unique contributions to national development. News Point Nigeria reports that Shettima gave the commendation in Abuja on Tuesday during a colloquium organised to commemorate the 50th birthday of Hadiza Usman. The Vice-President described her as a mirror not only for the northern Nigerian girl, but for the nation itself. Shettima said Usman’s earned her influence in Nigeria’s public service, continually shaping the country’s national direction through “a rare combination of gifts: grace, strengthened by grit;…
THE Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has dismissed claims that the ongoing prosecution of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, is driven by personal animosity or political considerations, insisting that the case was inherited upon his assumption of office. Olukoyede made the clarification on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television monitored by News Point Nigeria, where he addressed growing public speculation over the EFCC’s decision to arraign the former justice minister on corruption-related charges. According to the EFCC chairman, investigations into Malami’s alleged financial impropriety were initiated…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the agency is not charging some alleged corrupt high-profile persons to court yet because it takes time to gather evidence in such cases. EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyede said arraigning people involved in high-profile cases requires painstaking investigation, thus the perceived delay in prosecuting persons involved in public corruption. Olukoyede said this in an interview with Channels Television aired on Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to the EFCC, the length of time some cases take before reaching the courts does not indicate that the anti-graft agency is inactive. “In 48…
AUTHORITIES in Jersey, a British Crown Dependency in the Channel Islands between the United Kingdom and France are set to return more than $9.5 million (£7 million) to the Nigerian government. The funds will be funneled into supporting infrastructure projects in the West African country. This repatriation followed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December between the Attorney General for Jersey Mark Temple KC and the Federal Government. The MoU is built on two past deals between Nigeria and Jersey involving the return of over $300m which were held in a bank account in the island. The Attorney General of…
THE Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has filed a formal petition with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing a former Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, of alleged corruption and abuse of office. News Point Nigeria reports that the petition, submitted through Dangote’s legal team and signed by his lead counsel, Dr. O. J. Onoja, SAN, was lodged at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja following the withdrawal of a similar complaint earlier filed with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Sources familiar with…
BANKS and telecommunications operators in Nigeria have been handed a March 1, 2026, deadline to fully implement a comprehensive refund framework aimed at ending persistent consumer complaints over failed airtime and data transactions. News Point Nigeria reports that the new directive follows the completion of a joint regulatory framework developed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to address situations where subscribers are debited for airtime or data purchases without receiving the corresponding service. The framework targets failures arising from network outages, system malfunctions, human input errors, and other breakdowns across the financial and…
Togo, Niger Republic, and Benin owe Nigeria $17.8m, an equivalent of over N25bn at the current exchange rate, for electricity supplied under bilateral arrangements, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said. In its Third Quarter 2025 report obtained by News Point Nigeria, NERC disclosed that the three international customers were invoiced a total of $18.69m by the Market Operator for electricity supplied during the period, but they remitted only $7.125m, leaving an outstanding balance of $11.56m. Similarly, the international bilateral customers had legacy invoices of $14.7m, out of which they paid $7.84m, leaving a balance of $6.23m. This newspaper reports…
THE African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Federal Government over Nigeria’s silence following recent developments in Venezuela, describing the lack of an official position as embarrassing and unworthy of the country’s status as a leading African nation. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, expressed the party’s concerns during an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television on Tuesday monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to Abdullahi, Nigeria has lost its standing as a principled voice in Africa and West Africa under the current administration, at a time when the crisis in Venezuela represents a defining moment with far-reaching…
FORMER Minister of Defence and immediate past Governor of Jigawa State, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has firmly denied reports suggesting that he is planning to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing the claims as false, baseless and politically motivated. Badaru’s denial comes amid growing speculation triggered by internal disagreements within the APC in Jigawa State, particularly an ongoing rift between him and the incumbent governor, Umar Namadi. The tensions have reportedly fuelled rumours of possible defections by aggrieved party stakeholders ahead of future political realignments in the state. Investigations by this newspaper revealed…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission has resumed the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration exercise, signalling the start of the second phase of the process. News Point Nigeria reports that the resumption, which took effect on Monday, was confirmed by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Adedayo Oketola, when this newspaper reached out to him. He responded, “It is true.” The resumption follows the conclusion of the first phase of the CVR, which officially ended on December 10, 2025. INEC had earlier launched online pre-registration for the exercise on August 18, 2025, before rolling out physical registration at designated centres…
THE Federal Government has reacted to calls by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) for a probe into the Ministry of Power and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) over allegations that more than ₦128 billion in public funds were missing or diverted. SERAP, in a statement issued on Sunday, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, alongside relevant anti-corruption agencies, to investigate the alleged financial discrepancies. The civil society organisation said its request was based on findings contained in an audit report, which it claimed…
NIGERIA’s banking industry is undergoing a major structural transformation, as the rapid rise of Point of Sale (PoS) transactions continues to erode the relevance of traditional brick-and-mortar banking. New data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) obtained by News Point Nigeria show that 229 physical bank branches were shut across the country within one year, reflecting a decisive shift by customers toward electronic payment channels for everyday financial transactions. According to the CBN’s 2024 Financial Sector Statistical Bulletin, the total number of Deposit Money Bank (DMB) branches and cash centres fell from 5,373 in 2023 to 5,144 in 2024,…
THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has categorically refuted reports circulating in some quarters claiming that the Commission has released the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 General Election. In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by the Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Friday, the Commission stated clearly that the information is false and misleading. “INEC has not released any timetable or schedule of activities for the 2027 General Election,” the statement read in part. It reiterated that it operates strictly within the provisions of the law, especially Section 28(1) of the…