Author: Hamza Rufai

THERE was tight security and protest as one of the factional Speakers of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Balarabe, on Thursday held a plenary session. During the plenary, the only female lawmaker of the 7th assembly, Hajara Danyaro, was sworn in. Earlier, Hajara was not in either of the camps during the crisis but this swearing-in indicates her membership of the Balarabe-led factional camp. Principal officers of the Balarabe camp were also announced. Adamu Omadefu was named as the Majority Leader; Danladi Jatau, Deputy Majority Leader; Larry Ven-Bawa, Chief Whip; Suleiman Azara, Deputy Chief Whip; Ibrahim Musa of…

THE attention of Kano Renaissance Group has been drawn to series of nocturnal meetings being held by some retired military personnel, with the sole purpose of working out mechanisms to malign the person of former ambassador and Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai (Rtd) and ensure he is reduced in esteem in the eyes of President Bola Tinubu and other well meaning Nigerians. In a press release signed yesterday by the group’s President, Malam Suleiman Uba Gaya, it says “the bigger objective of these characters is to ensure the well decorated General, who served Nigeria and particularly…

THE Board and Management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation have announced the recommencement of two additional train trips on the Abuja-Kaduna train service. Recall that in January this year, the News Point Nigeria reported that the Abuja-Kaduna train detailed in Kubwa led to the reduction of trips on the rail corridor. But a statement on Saturday by the NRC management stated that the train service will resume on Sunday, 4th June 2023. The NRC apologises to its esteemed passengers for any inconvenience they might have experienced as a result of the temporary reduction in train service. The NRC assures its…

ALHAJI Usman Jidda Shuwa, Borno’s immediate past Secretary to State Government, is dead. Shuwa, who until May 28, is Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s SSG, passed away after a brief illness. According to a family source, he passed on at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, UMTH, this evening. Shuwa was a seasoned administrator with a long standing track record of working at both state and federal levels. Born 1958, he died aged 65. His burial arrangements will be announced by the state government.

GOVERNOR Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has been elected the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum. Also, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State emerged the Vice Chairman of the Forum. Mohammed and Fubara’s emerged on Saturday at a retreat for elected PDP officials at the Banquet Hall, Government House in Bauchi State. Mohammed replaced the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who was also at the one-day event on Saturday. The acting National Chairman of PDP, Umar Damagum, in his opening remarks at the retreat, said, “I want to reiterate, on the issue of the National Assembly, we…

IN the light of the outcry trailing the assertion on fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the approach. Tinubu, in his inaugural speech last Monday, had declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”. The decision was first taken by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022, and the move received the backing of Tinubu, Atiku, and several other 2023 presidential candidates, who sought to end the funds-guzzling subsidy regime if elected. But speaking on Saturday in Bauchi State addressed PDP officials elected in the recent polls, Atiku kicked against the…

THE vice president, Senator Kashim Shettima Friday commissioned the Jumu’at Mosque built by the Muslim community in the National Assembly. Shettima who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the event called on leaders to act with humility as they discharge their responsibilities while in positions of authority and seek their hereafter through similar projects and charity. Shettima said they should also be mindful of the transience of power and life as they must one day leave their positions and the world. He said he has packed his belongings from his former office as a senator adding that, in two weeks,…

FORMER Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, on Wednesday, said he has a cordial relationship with the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso. Last August, in the build-up to the 2023 general elections, Shekarau fell out with Kwankwaso, also a former Kano governor. Shekarau had left the All-Progressives Congress in May to join Kwankwaso’s NNPP but dumped the party in the same month While Shekarau pitched his tent with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kwankwaso is of the NNPP. Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today monitored by News Point Nigeria, Shekarau admitted…

VICE President Kashim Shettima assumed for work at the Vice President wing of the State House in Abuja on Tuesday at 12.39pm. Speaking to State House Correspondents in his office, the Vice President restated the commitment of himself and President Bola Tinubu to improving the lives of the Nigerian people. When asked about the fuel scarcity currently being experienced following the subsidy removal pronouncement made by the President at the inauguration on Monday, Mr Shettima affirmed the statement made by President. He promised the Nigerian people better years ahead under the Tinubu-Shettima administration.

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has welcomed the pronouncement of President Bola Tinubu on the removal of fuel subsidy. The President, in his inaugural address on Monday, had declared an end to the era of subsidy payment, saying the 2023 budget made no provision for fuel subsidy, so further payment was no longer justifiable. Responding in an emergency press conference at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, NNPCL told Nigerians that the move was in the best interest of the company. According to the GCEO of the company, Mele Kyari, the company has been spending a substantial amount of its…

THE newly sworn-in Governor of Katsina State Dikko Radda on Monday called on bandits to turn a new leaf or face the consequences of their actions.  He issued the warning during his inauguration in Katsina, the state capital. “To the bandits, I say abandon your cause and reintegrate into society or face the full wrath of the law,” he warned. “I urge our youths to shun drug abuse, time-wasting, and criminality. We will work with relevant law enforcement agencies to promote social order and overall security in the state.” While vowing to deploy all available resources to end banditry and…

PETROL stations in Lagos started witnessing queues few hours after President Bola Tinubu announced that “fuel subsidy is gone”. This newspaper observed that NNPC stations in Ikeja, Alausa were crowded by motorists who rushed to buy the product. Many private stations were not selling as of the time of filing this report. In his inauguration speech, Tinubu had said subsidy was benefitting the rich at the expense of poor. “We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its…

Full Text Of Buhari Farewell Speech My fellow Nigerian brothers, sisters and friends of Nigeria. 2. I address you today, in my last assignment as a democratically elected President of our great and well-endowed nation, with a deep sense of gratitude to God, a great deal of appreciation to the Nigerian people and a modest sense of fulfilment. 3. Today we mark and celebrate another peaceful transition of power from one elected government to another in our steady march to improve and sustain Nigeria’s democracy. 4. This year we witnessed the most keenly contested Presidential Elections since the first Republic…

DESPITE the inclusion of access to potable water on Sustainable Development Goals and efforts of the Nigerian government, several Nigerian communities still rely on unsafe sources of water. But a non-governmental organisation, Halima Shitu Charitable Foundation is working on changing the narratives as it continue to provide potable water to communities in northern Nigeria that are adversely affected by lack of potable water. In a memo made available to News Point Nigeria, the convener of the foundation, Sheikh Abdallah AbdulWahab calls for provision of potable water project for communities in Kano and Bauchi states. The communities include: Kunkurawa, Kekasa, Gidan…

THE Senate has amended the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act to extend the implementation year from the 30th of June to the 31st of December, 2023. The National Assembly extended the implementation of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act from 31st December 2022 to 31st March 2023. This was to allow full implementation of the budget, especially in light of the 2022 supplementary budget approved in December 2022. News Point Nigeria reports that the extension had allowed the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government to utilise a large proportion of funds released to them. However, according to Senate Leader, Abdullahi Gobir,…

TWO days to the end of the eight-year regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, and handover of power to the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on May 29, the Presidency has said ministers will not be allowed to leave office with their official vehicles. It said they would only get what the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission prescribes as their severance benefits. It noted further that Buhari and the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), would also leave behind their armoured, luxury vehicles, which would be taken over by their successors, Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima, respectively. The Senior Special Assistant…

SENATOR Smart Adeyemi has urged President-elect Bola Tinubu to question the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele and those involved in the naira redesigning. The lawmaker representing Kogi West based his argument on the agony the heavily-criticised process caused Nigerians. “I will call on Emefiele and others to come and explain what happened and what was the reason behind the redesigning of the naira notes,” he said on Friday when asked what he would do about the naira redesign policy if he were in Tinubu’s shoes. The senator who was a guest on Friday’s edition of Channels Television…

THE inaugural airlift of Nigerian pilgrims has unprecedentedly began with a rescue operation as Aero Contractors failed to produce an aircraft for the transportation of the first batch of Nigerian pilgrims to 2023 hajj in Saudi Arabia. Aero Contractors is one of the five air carriers selected by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to airlift the 75,000 state pilgrims and officials to Saudi Arabia this year. The other four are Flynas, Max Air, Azman Air, and Air Peace. Findings from NAHCON revealed that Aero Contractors, which was also allocated 7,833 pilgrims, was to perform the inaugural flight with…

IN an apparent bid to temper expectations, the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, says the administration of his principal, Bola Tinubu, may not be off to a rosy start. Both Tinubu and Shettima are expected to be sworn in on Monday, signalling the end of the administration of outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari after the completion of two four-year terms. Shettima, in an address delivered on Friday at the 2023 Presidential Inauguration Public Lecture at the National Mosque, Abuja, assured Nigerians that Tinubu would hit the ground running. “The starting point might not be rosy, let me be very honest with you.…

A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by three individuals seeking to stop the inauguration of President-elect, Bola Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima over age falsification and citizenship status in the document Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Justice James Omotosho, in a ruling on Friday, held that the suit by the trio of Praise Ilemona Isaiah, Pastor Paul Isaac Audu and Anongu Moses was frivolous and an abuse of the court process. Justice Omotosho held that the plaintiffs lacked the locus standi to file the suit, adding that the court could…