Author: nationalpoint

President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, recently disclosed plans by the Senate to take steps to ensure fiscal autonomy for the local governments and block the release of allocations from the federation account to local governments without elected leadership. This followed mounting concerns expressed by Nigerians over the increasing number of states running local governments without elected administrations and interfering with local government funds. Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, makes it clear that local governments in Nigeria should be democratically elected. It states, “The system of local government by democratically elected…

The Senate president, Senator Godswill Akpabio led over 50 senators on Saturday November 25 to Calabar where they joined other dignitaries including, the governor of Cross River State, Senator Bassey Otu, the deputy Senate president and the Senate leader to celebrate Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, Nigeria’s youngest senator of the 10th Senate as he turned 37. Speaking at the thanksgiving held at the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Duke Town Parish, by Senator Ekpenyong to thank God for his electoral success and the dedication of his third child, Anam, Senator Akpabio noted that Senator Ekpenyong though only 37 years in age, is…

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has issued a six month ultimatum to the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinmma to conduct local government elections or face both legal and political action. The opposition party expressed concern over deliberate acts of oppression employed by the recently re-elected governor in his leadership style. It lampooned the governor for failing on promises on youth empowerment and charged him to tackle insecurity and create an enabling environment for investors to stay in and help develop the state. The ultimatum was contained in a recent press release signed by Comrade Chilos Godsent, ADC national vice chairman…

Huge crowds besieged banking halls on Monday, as customers moved to link their Bank Verification Numbers and National Identity Numbers to their bank accounts. This followed the new directive of the banking regulator to the banks on Friday, to bar customers who were yet to link their BVN and NIN from having access to their accounts. CBN said in its new directive that existing customers must, “Ensure all operated accounts/wallets created through agents, are fully profiled in the NIBSS ICAD and tagged with valid and correct BVN and/or NIN.” It added, “Effective immediately, any unfunded account/wallet shall be placed on…

Super Falcons secured their place in the upcoming African Women’s Championship, dominating Cape Verde with a 7-1 aggregate victory. The reigning champions of them tournament proved to be too much on the pitch for their opponents, clinching a decisive 2-1 victory against Cape Verde at the Estafio National de Cabo Verde in Praia on Tuesday. The triumph followed their outstanding 5-0 win in the reverse fixture at Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja last Thursday. Monday Gift, a key player in the qualification journey, expressed her joy and gratitude on social media, underscoring the team’s commitment and achievement in securing a…

Dreams FC of Kumasi over the weekend in Kumasi, Ghana defeated Rivers United 2-1 to record their first win in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup. Dreams had lost 2-0 to Club Africain of Tunisia in their opening match in the group but made spirited efforts that paid off in their encounter with Rivers United at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi. John Antwi scored first from an assist by Eric Boateng in the 35th minute and sent the home fans into wild jubilation. Boateng also helped Abdul Aziz Issah with an assist for the second goal in…

Ezebunwo Nyesom , the self-acclaimed political leader of the Niger Delta is doing everything to give ethnic coloration to his unguided, misdirected political onslaught against his successor Gov. Siminalayi Fubara KSC of Rivers State, but such attempts have failed because Nigerians know that his actions are driven by greed and his quest to hold on to power even when he is no-longer governor of the state. Some years ago, Wike publicly said that, “Thunder should fire Ijaw people” even when Ijaw people never offended him in any way. The rascality of Wike has forced many to ask what has actually…

The Federal Government has noted with interest the public conversation on the number of delegates from Nigeria attending the ongoing Climate Summit in Dubai, otherwise called COP-28, and the need to provide clarity in line with a standing pledge to conduct itself with transparency and accessibility regarding public information. The Convention of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the world’s pre-eminent Climate Change Conference, attended this year (COP-28) by more than 70,000 participants and delegates from over 100 countries. Nigeria’s representation is very much in line with our status as Africa’s leading Sovereign…

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on Monday ordered that a suit seeking the takeover of the functions of the Rivers Assembly by the National Assembly be transferred to the Abuja Division. The court, presided over by Justice P. M. Ayua, said since the National Assembly listed as the 1st Respondent in the matter is located in Abuja and there is a similar action filed in the nation’s capital with same parties, the case in Port Harcourt should be sent to Abuja for hearing and determination. The suit was filed by a lawyer, Kingsley Igbaki, and four others, with…

National Point recently published a special report which highlighted the multi-dimensional poverty status of Rivers State despite its ranking as the second richest state in Nigeria with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $51.529 billion and a per capita income of $5,949 (PPP) according to BudgIT ‘State of States 2022 Edition.’ The state which is ranked behind Lagos which has a GDP of $102 billion (nominal) $267 billion (PPP), received over N1trillion in the last four years. As a follow up to the report, National Point paid a visit to some slum communities where the poorest of the poor are…