THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested the Correctional officer who allegedly killed a convict, which led to civil unrest in the Wuse Market area of the city. The command disclosed this in a statement, signed by its spokesperson, Josephine Addeh. This newspaper reported how a trigger-happy correctional service officer shot Ibrahim Yahaya, 27, convicted at a mobile court that sits every Tuesday in Wuse Market. The convict, in an attempt to escape, jumped off the moving vehicle, and “two armed corrections personnel who were in the vehicle went after him and in the process, shot him.” The…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu joined the Muslim faithful at the State House mosque for the Ramadan Tafsir (explanation of the Holy Qur’an) on Tuesday, appealing to Nigerians to pray for peace and stability in the country. Declaring open the annual Tafsir, President Tinubu advised the Muslim faithful to demonstrate kindness to one another and their neighbours while also supporting the less privileged in society. ”We thank Almighty Allah for sparing us to see another holy month of Ramadan. We thank Allah for sparing us through the elections and giving us the opportunity to be Nigerians. ”Yes, things are tough, but Allah…
SENATORS from the 19 Northern States and the FCT, under the aegis of Northern Senators Forum (NSF), have dissociated themselves from the comments made by Senator Abdul Ningi on the 2024 budget. Ningi had in a recent interview claimed that the Federal Government is operating two versions of the 2024 budget, a claim the Presidency denied on Sunday. In a statement on Monday, the NSF declared that Ningi who happens to be the chairman of the forum, was on his own in the claims he made on the 2024 budget. The forum stated that Ningi expressed “his personal opinion, sentiment…
THE Senate on Monday, inaugurated an Ad-Hoc Committee to investigate the Ways and Means, including the Anchor Borrowers Programme by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari. President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio led other senators to the inauguration, the move comes after a decision by the Red Chamber to probe details of the programmes based on monies given to state governments, manufacturers, aviation, banks, excess funding in the power sector, amongst others which raised the current debt profile of the country. This was part of resolutions of the Senate after a debate over…
THE Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has appealed to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to as matter of urgency consider the reopening of the county’s borders for importation of food stuff to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian masses. The appeal was contained in a statement issued by the Governor’s Spokesperson Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa shortly after receiving the Controller General of the Nigerian Customs Service Alhaji Bashir Adewale Adeniyi at Government House in Kano. Gov. Yusuf lamented the critical condition of hunger and starvation in the country which was caused by the rampant hike in the price…
THE crescent moon, which marks the beginning of the Holy month of Ramadan, has been sighted in Saudi Arabia. The moon was reportedly spotted on Sunday evening, meaning March 10 is the last day of the month of Sha’ban and the holy month will begin on Monday, March 11. Ramadan, determined by the lunar Islamic calendar in which months span either 29 or 30 days, commences and concludes based on the sighting of the crescent moon. Saudi Arabia authorities had earlier called on Muslims to sight the crescent of the holy month of Ramadan. The Supreme Court had called on…
OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two grandfathers over drug trafficking. The suspects – Mallam Mai Gemu Adam and Yamama Musa, were arrested in Borno State on Saturday, March 9. Confirming this in a statement on Sunday, NDLEA spokesman, said 32,000 ampoules of tramadol injection were recovered from them. “NDLEA operatives in Borno state have arrested a 70-year-old grandfather, Mallam Mai Gemu Adam and 65-year-old Yamama Musa for drug trafficking. They were arrested on Saturday 9th March along with 24-year-old Abubakar Ya’u and Babagana Abubakar Ali, 28, in Maiduguri and Gamboru-Ngala respectively while 32,000 ampoules…
THE Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has said that President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigerian Customs Service to return all seized grains to their owners for onward retailing in the Nigerian markets. The CGC disclosed this during a stakeholder meeting at Kwangwalam, a border town in the Maiadua Local Government Area of Katsina State on Saturday. He said the directive was given by the president in his magnanimous gesture of ensuring that people of the country have enough food to buy at cheaper prices from the markets. He said, however, the return of the confiscated food items…
THE Department of State Services (DSS), on Friday, cautioned Nigerians across the country to avoid crowded places or suspicious locations to avoid “potential threats” that may come out from Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs). The secret police, in its message to both Christian and Muslim faithful to felicitate with them at their Lent and coming Ramadan seasons respectively, said the advice became imperative in order to live in a peaceful environment. Peter Afunanya, the spokesman of the secret police, also cautioned clerics from both religions, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to refrain from economic exploitation, sabotage or profiteering during these important…
THE House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has issued a one-week deadline to all private airline operators in the country to account for the sum of N4bn given to them by the Federal Government to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic or refund same in the absence of justifiable evidence of how the amount was spent. The committee, chaired by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Osun State, Bamidele Salam, issued the ultimatum on Friday at the resumed investigative hearing into the alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19 intervention funds by ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government. This newspaper…
THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has debunked reports circulating in some quarters that its warehouse was looted by some hoodlums in Abuja on Sunday. NEMA spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, in a statement on Sunday, confirmed that the looted warehouse is not affiliated with the agency, but sympathised with the owners of the looted facility. On Sunday, some residents of Abuja raided a warehouse belonging to the Federal Capital Territory’s Department of Agriculture, looting foodstuffs and other items stored in the facility. The FCT Agric secretariat’s Public Relations Officer, Zakari Aliyu, confirmed to Channels Television via text message that the looted…
THE Federal Government has paid $120m out of the $1.3bn indebtedness to gas companies for the supply of gas to run gas-fired power plants across the country. Nigeria is currently suffering from low power supply because many gas suppliers have reduced, while others stopped supplying the commodity to power-generating companies due to the indebtedness of the Gencos to gas-producing firms. The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, recently revealed that the crash in power generation and attendant poor supply since January was because gas suppliers stopped supplying gas for the generation of electricity due to the indebtedness of the sector…
THE Senate has summoned the Minister of Federal Capital Territory and the Commissioner of Police in the FCT to brief the senate in a closed door session. The briefing will be on security in the FCT against the backdrop of the recent Galadima kidnap incident. The Senate announced the resolution after a motion moved by Senator Ned Nwoko, representing Delta North on the need to urgently enhance security measures in the FCT during plenary on Wednesday. Among other resolutions taken by the Senate include calls on the Inspector-General of Police to urgently increase security patrols and surveillance within Abuja and…
TWENTY students have died in three boarding girls’ secondary schools and the Federal Government Girls’ College in Potiskum and Fika local government areas of Yobe State from a suspected outbreak of meningitis. The Yobe State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Mohammed Sani-Idris told journalists that “20 students have been confirmed dead in the last few weeks from the suspected meningitis outbreak across some boarding secondary schools in Potiskum and Fika local government areas. Many have been hospitalized but now discharged”. He explained that after the outbreak at the secondary schools, “I as Commissioner, my Permanent secretary and the Executive Secretary…
THE Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, says himself and his team are not responsible for the current economic woes in the country. He stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the apex bank, the first since he assumed office in September 2023. The apex bank boss, however, said the CBN is taking the necessary steps to get the country’s fiscal and monetary health back to normal. Nigeria is battling rising inflation, food inflation, forex crisis, economic hardship and high cost of living occasioned by the removal of petrol…
THE International Association Of World Peace Advocates IAWPA has congratulated Hajara Ibrahim, a young Gombe State student of Botany, who emerged the winner of the International Quranic Recitation Competition which held in Jordan. A statement signed by the International Director of African Affairs of the association, Amb John Metchie said her triumph at the event shows the resilience of the average Nigerian women. Metchie also congratulated the Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya CON, and people of Gombe State over the International feat stressing that the victory has out the state on the world map. Ibrahim, from Abubakar Siddiq Islamiyya and 200…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Monday ordered the full implementation of the Oronsaye report. The implementation signifies that several agencies of the government would be merged, subsumed, scrapped, and relocated. Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, revealed this to State House correspondents after Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. In this article, this newspaper disclosed 14 key things to know about the Orosanye report: 1. Former President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies. He appointed Stephen Oronsaye to head…
THE Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola has sworn in 11 new Justices to the bench of the Supreme Court, charging them, not to allow their ambition to becloud their sense of judgement. Some of the Justices are Jummai Hannatu Sankey, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, Haruna Simon Tsammani and Moore Aseimo A. Adumein. Others are Justices Obande Festus Ogbuinya, Stephen Jonah Adah, Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru, Jamilu Yammama Tukur, Abubakar Sadiq Umar, and Mohammed Baba Idris. Justice Ariwoola noted the interaction of the new Justices with people of unviable inclinations and pedigree, if any, must be…
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has raised an alarm that rising prices of fuel and other commodities could lead to social unrest in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola and Kenya. The AfDB sounded the warning in its macroeconomic performance and outlook for 2024 in which it projected Africa’s economy to grow higher than the 3.2 per cent recorded in 2023. The AfDB projected that growth on the continent will rebound to 3.8% in 2024. However, the bank cautioned that an increase in fuel and commodity prices occasioned by currency depreciation or subsidy removal in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and Ethiopia could trigger internal…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Saturday said Nigeria is ready to host the African Central Bank in line with the vision of the Abuja Treaty. The Nigerian leader stated this in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while addressing leaders at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU). He said his administration will engage the African Union Commission in collaboration with member states to ensure that the bank takes off as scheduled in 2028. According to Tinubu, Africa’s success in conclusively addressing its challenges hinges on the firmness of its resolution, built on…