Author: Hamza Rufai

BARELY 24 hours after its closure, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has reopened Sahad Stores, a supermarket located in the Garki area of Abuja. A Saturday’s visit by News Point Nigeria to the supermarket which is located at the Garki area of the Federal Capital Territory revealed that business activities are gradually picking up after it was sealed on Friday. On Friday, the supermarket was sealed by an enforcement team, for engaging in “misleading pricing and lack of transparency in pricing”. The FCCPC in a statement said investigations revealed that Sahad Stores displayed lower prices on shelves…

THE Jigawa State Police has initiated an investigation into the tragic murder of Esther Adekamla, a well-known restaurant owner in Dutse, widely known as Hadiza Nakowa. This announcement was made in a statement issued by the command’s spokesperson, DSP Lawan Shiisu, in Dutse on Friday. According to the statement, Adekamla was brutally attacked and killed by unknown assailants at her residence in Dutse. The incident came to light on Friday, 15th February 2024, around 1600hrs, when her neighbors reported that they had last seen her on Monday. Upon receiving the report, detectives from the Dutse Division swiftly responded and proceeded…

JUSTICE Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja has ordered the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to re-open the investigation and prosecution of those who murdered the founder of Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa, in 1986. Delivering judgment, Justice Ekwo held the AGF was under obligation to prosecute and penalize killers of media practitioners in the country. Mister Dele Giwa was murdered on October 19, 1986, in his Lagos office through a letter bomb. Apart from Dele Giwa, the court ordered that the killings of other journalists in the discharge of their lawful duties must be…

A FORMER Governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, has urged President Bola Tinubu to implement some of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference Report on community policing and restructuring. “I have gone through that document. It is 2014 during (Goodluck) Jonathan’s government. He personally handed it over publicly at Eagle Square to President (Muhammadu) Buhari and nothing was done about it,” the former Minister of Education said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday monitored by News Point Nigeria. “I’ll advise President Tinubu to dust it up. May be set up a small committee to review it…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the reconstitution of the executive management teams of parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. This was disclosed in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, Thursday. The appointees are as follows: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN): (1) Managing Director / CEO — Mr. Shehu Usman Osidi (2) Executive Director (Finance & Corporate Services) — Mr. Ibidapo Odojukan (3) Executive Director (Loans & Mortgage Services) — Mr. Muhammad Sani Abdu (4) Executive Director (Business Development & Portfolios) — Ms. Chinenye Anosike Federal Housing Authority…

THE House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has resolved to sanction Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of government over violation of the Treasury Single Account. The chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, said this at the resumed hearing of the committee in Abuja on Wednesday. The committee also summoned the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Yemi Cardoso, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and representatives from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, to appear before it on February 20. The committee is investigating alleged leakages and non-remittance of TSA revenue generated through Remita. Salam said that the…

A GROUP of lawmakers in the House of Representatives are seeking amendments to the 1999 Constitution to transition from the current presidential system to the parliamentary system of government. According to the group made up of about 60 lawmakers, the transition has become necessary to reduce the cost of government in the face of dwindling revenue. Titled, ‘The Bills Proposing Constitutional Alterations For a Transition To Parliamentary System of Government,’ the bill was sponsored by the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, and 59 others. The bill was read on the floor of the House during plenary session in Abuja on…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu is expected to depart Abuja for Adis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday to participate in the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government meeting. Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity in a statement in Abuja, said President Tinubu would join other African leaders in high-level meetings on institutional reforms of the African Union; peace and security. They will also deal with specific thematic issues such as climate change, as well as modalities of participation and priorities of the continental body in the…

THE Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday, presided over the swearing-in of three newly elected senators. Those sworn in during the plenary were Professor Anthony Okorie (All Progressives Congress, Ebonyi South), Mustapha Musa (All Progressives Congress, Yobe East), and Prince Pam Mwadkon (Action Democratic Party, Plateau North) On the ground to administer the oath of office was the Clerk of the Senate, Mr. Chinedu Akubueze at about 11:41 am. After their swearing-in, the new lawmakers were thereafter led to their respective seats. During the plenary, the upper chamber also went into close-door meeting with the service chiefs owing to the…

GOVERNORS elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday, restated their position on state policing, as the solution to the country’s worsening security situation. The opposition governors also decried the free fall of the naira and its attendant consequences, and asked that the Federal Government’s economic team should find appropriate solutions to the challenge. The Chairman of the Forum, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State briefed journalists after a meeting of the governors in Abuja. He decried the high cost of living in the country, and the value of the naira, saying, “We are almost on…

A DEPUTY Director in charge of Branch Operations at the Central Bank of Nigeria, mister Onyeka Ogbu, has told a Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja, that he was aware of a $6.2 million payment request for international election observers Mister Ogbu, who is the prosecution witness one, said, the request was made on January 8, 2023. He noted that he reviewed the documents and subsequently gave approval for disbursement which was then executed. All documents were identified, but certain pages were absent. This led the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, to request a temporary halt for the issue of the…

VICE President Kashim Shettima will lead a Federal Government delegation to the 2023 African Cup of Nations, AFCON final on Sunday as the Super Eagles take on hosts, Côte d’Ivoire, in a bid for continental glory. A statement on Saturday from the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, noted that having represented President Bola Tinubu at the semi-finals last week, where Nigeria defeated South Africa, Shettima heads back to Abidjan for the title decider. “Recognising the unifying power of football and the immense role the Super Eagles play in fostering national pride and unity,…

THE Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on Friday raised the alarm over high cost of operation even as aviation fuel has hit over N1300. This is despite the rising naira to dollar exchange rate of over N1,400 to a dollar which has made it difficult for airlines to carry out scheduled maintenance of their aircraft. The operators however said the situation poses existential threat to them, saying the aircraft that are due for maintenance have been grounded and cannot be ferried overseas because of the scarcity of forex. According to them, there is continuous depletion of equipment without replenishment and…

THE Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria counterpart have issued a 14-day nationwide strike notice to the Federal Government over the failure of the Bola Tinubu-led government to implement the agreements reached on October 2, 2023, following the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit known as petrol. Leaders of the NLC and TUC are sad that despite organised labour’s efforts to ensure industrial peace, the government seems unperturbed by the mass suffering and hardship across the country. The October 2 agreement was “focused on addressing the massive suffering and the general harsh socioeconomic consequences…

THE Federal Government has hailed the Super Eagles over their victory against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 semi-final holding in Ivory Coast. The match finished 1-1 after extra time and the three-time champions will face hosts Ivory Coast or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the final on Sunday. Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho scored to give Nigeria a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over South Africa on Wednesday after an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final thriller in Bouake. Shortly after the match ended, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, described the Super…

THE Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday struck out a N22.8 billion fraud charge against former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall, Adesola Amosu, and two other Air Force Chiefs. Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke set the military officers free while delivering rulings on their separate preliminary objections challenging the court’s jurisdiction to try them for the alleged crime. The court held that Amosu and his co-defendants, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Bola Adigun and Air Commodore Gbadebo Owodunni Olugbenga, could not be tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because they were serving military officers at the time the…

THE first civilian governor of Yobe State Bukar Abba Ibrahim has died while receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni confirmed the death of the former Senator representing Yobe East district. A statement via Buni’s Director General of Press and Media Affairs Mamman Mohammed noted that the former governor died on Sunday and would be buried in Saudi Arabia. He said condolences are to be received by Governor Mai Mala Buni at Government House in Damaturu. Abba Ibrahim a renowned politician who died at 75 is the husband of a serving lawmaker Khadija Bukar Abba…

BANDITS who collected N8.5 million before releasing four among 17 people, including a nurse at Kawu in Bwari area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have again demanded two brand new Bajaj motorcycles for the release of the remaining 11 victims in captivity. This newspaper had reported how the bandits invaded Kawu community on December 26, 2023, and abducted 23 persons. Four among them had escaped, leaving behind 17 others in captivity. The bandits were said to have threatened to kill the remaining 11 over delayed ransom. Speaking with our reporter on Friday, a family member of one of…

THE Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, has ordered restriction of all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation from 12 am to 6 pm in 26 states holding bye-elections on Saturday. This is with the exclusion of those on essential duties such as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, election observers, accredited journalists, ambulances responding to medical emergencies, and firefighters among others. The affected states are Ebonyi, Yobe, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Taraba, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and Akwa Ibom. Others are Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Katsina, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Kano, Nasarawa,…

THE Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris Malagi is calling on Nigerians to be patient with the reforms of the Bola Tinubu government.  Tinubu, who came into office in May, initiated a string of reforms including the floating of the naira and the removal of the much-debated fuel subsidies. The moves have triggered a spike in the cost of living with inflation soaring. But Malagi believes these are bound to happen, maintaining that in the long run, these reforms would yield fruit. “I want you to remember that the President is seven months old in office. I am…