News

New Naira: Seven Notable Quotes From El-Rufai

Published

3 years ago

February 4, 2023

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has been firing from all cylinders, claiming some unnamed persons in Aso Villa were working against the All Progressives Congress’ victory during the presidential election.

The PUNCH reports that the governor on Thursday claimed that the said people were inciting voters against the APC.

Below are seven of his salvos:

1. Saboteurs will be unmasked, defeated

“Unmasking them is not as joyful as defeating them. They will be unmasked in time. But we have defeated them when they wanted their own people in the national working committee of the party.

“We have defeated them when they wanted their own anointed person to be the presidential candidate without due regard, due process or respect for those of us that are governors, that have slaved to put this party together, campaigned for it and delivered the election twice. We didn’t matter.’’

2. Saboteurs are political amateurs/lighter weights

“Meanwhile, none of them has contested an election as a councillor, and if they did, they won’t win. I have been elected twice with over a million votes in Kaduna State. I can claim to speak for the people.

‘’None of these people can. We will come to the unmasking stage, this is not the stage. The stage now is to draw the attention of Nigerians that they are elements that are doing this and they don’t mean well for our party, they want to incite voters against our party, so that we lose the elections.’’

3. Saboteurs, cabal misled Buhari

“Once Nigerians know that they will know where some of these funny decisions are coming from and when the election is done and settled by the grace of God in about three weeks, and I’m confident, we are not sleeping.

“We are going to work hard until (February) 27th when all the election results are out and by the grace of God, Asiwaju (Tinubu) is elected and other candidates of the APC; then we will unmask them.

4. Dummies to President

“This has been an ongoing issue and we just feel that some of these things that are being thought of and clothed with good intentions, and dummies being sold to the President so that the electorate will be incited; the people of Nigeria will be inflicted needless pain at the point in addition to all the other challenges that they are facing just so that they will revolt and say, look, we will vote for the other party. It is clear.’’

5. Case for old notes

He stated, “I have a map of Nigeria with blind spots where there is no network; PoS won’t work there. It is not everywhere that you have bank branches. It is not everywhere you have PoS working. So, let’s sit and look at this thing and find out the reasonable time it takes to do this.

“Even the Central Bank Act that gives the President the power to issue to the Central Bank directives with regard to currency redesign says that reasonable time must be given before the currency ceases to be legal tender.’’

6. CBN deadline unreasonable

“The question is: Is a few weeks a reasonable time in a country of one million square kilometres and over 200m people? How many bank branches are in Nigeria? How many ATMs?

“In Borno State, there are only two local governments out of 27 with a bank branch. In Yobe, only two local governments out of 17 have a bank branch.

“Even a cosmopolitan state relatively in the north like Kaduna has two local governments that have no bank branches and 10 with only one bank branch. So, everyone in that local government must come to that one bank branch? And this PoS that you are seeing in every street of Lagos; do you think you have PoS in every street of Kubau, Ikara and Makarfi which are local government headquarters in my state?’’

7. Atiku exploiting Nigerians’ hardship

“But this week, because of a mere extension of 10 days, he’s (Atiku) turning round to say don’t extend; it means there is something. He’s clearly benefiting from this pain Nigerians are going through every day till today.

“I have reports that people in Kaduna cannot buy food and they cannot sell because there are no currency notes around. But the presidential candidate of the PDP is saying don’t extend because he’s gaining from it. The incitement of people against the APC is in his view to his advantage and this incitement is stronger in northern Nigeria where Atiku is to benefit from,’’ he submitted.
PUNCH

News

Nigerian Govt Launches LG Proof Of Address To Improve Citizen Identification

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has officially rolled out the Local Government Proof of Address, POA, project, an initiative designed to strengthen national security, improve citizen identification, and enhance service delivery across the country.

The project, initiated by the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, was formally approved through a circular issued by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, with reference number 5964B/S,13/VBA/T.IIIA/704.

According to the circular, the POA scheme took effect from October 1, 2025. However, implementation is at various stages in different federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.

According to the circular, under the new arrangement, all federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, government-owned corporations, and public institutions are mandated to replace the long-standing use of utility bills as proof of residence with the standardized Proof of Address issued at the local government level.

The circular explained that the POA project aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s eight-point development agenda, particularly, in the areas of governance reform, security enhancement, and institutional efficiency.

It is domiciled in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, with the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, serving as the coordinating federal agency.

“For years, the reliance on utility bills as proof of residence has posed major challenges. Many Nigerians do not have utility bills in their names, while others rely on outdated or shared documents that do not accurately reflect their current place of residence.

“In the same vein, the increasing use of digital services and prepaid utilities has further reduced the reliability of utility bills as a credible verification tool,” the circular stated.

Also, it noted that while the National Identification Number, NIN, remains a critical component of Nigeria’s identity management framework, a significant number of NIN records do not capture current or accurate residential addresses, limiting their effectiveness for residency verification, security profiling, and service planning.

“The POA is therefore designed to fill this critical gap by providing verified, location-specific, and up-to-date address information directly linked to local governments.

“The POA framework places residency verification at the grassroots, where local authorities have better knowledge of their communities. By anchoring address verification at the local government level, the initiative is expected to improve community-level intelligence, crime prevention, emergency response, and population data accuracy,” it added.

Beyond security, the circular noted that POA data is expected to deliver wide-ranging benefits, including improved public service delivery, equitable resource allocation, disaster management planning, urban development, social intervention targeting and financial inclusion.

The circular directed state governments to lead awareness and sensitisation efforts within their jurisdictions, with technical and institutional support from the OSGF, NIPOST, and ALGON.

News

Tax Reform Law: Reps Minority Caucus Seeks Suspension Of Implementation

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2025

Editor

The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has demanded the immediate suspension of the implementation of the recently enacted tax reform laws.

The demand follows allegations that the statutes were unlawfully altered after being passed by the National Assembly and assented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Minority Leader, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, in a statement issued on Monday alongside other principal officers of the caucus, expressed deep concern and overwhelming disappointment over the controversy surrounding the tax reforms.

According to the caucus, the allegations, if proven, strike at the core of Nigeria’s legislative integrity, constitutional order and democratic governance.

While acknowledging that disagreements often accompany major reforms, the caucus stated that the present situation goes far beyond routine policy debate, as it involves claims that the laws were fraudulently altered, gazetted and circulated in a form different from what was duly passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and signed into law by the President.

It recalled that the matter was formally raised on the floor of the House during a recent plenary session, leading to the constitution of a high-powered investigative committee to probe the allegations.

News

Outrage, Confusion Trail Rumours Of Mohbad’s Wife Giving Birth Two Years After His Death

Published

8 hours ago

December 29, 2025

Editor

Many Nigerians on social media have reacted to the trending news about Wunmi, late singer Mohbad’s wife.

Rumours have emerged online that Wunmi recently welcomed a new baby with another man.

The rumours came a month after Mohbad’s family banned Wunmi from using their surname.

The viral rumour that started on X sparked controversy on social media with netizens raising eyebrows – since Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, and his body is still in the morgue.

The development has revived calls for a DNA test on her son with the late singer, Liam, who was five months old when Mohbad died.

Following the controversial circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death, and allegation of infidelity against Wunmi, the deceased’s father, Joseph Aloba, requested a DNA to determine Liam’s paternity.

Reacting to the development, actor Stanley Ontop in a post on Instagram wrote “Mohbad dled in 2023 Him wife give birth in 2025? What God can not do does not exist! Clap hand for Jesus. Anyways in life as a man try not to kpai, no matter what. Life goes on Anyways congratulations iyawo Mohbad.”

Also @MasterminddBoB wrote on X; ”Dis is not life pausing ooooo dis is her been a stupid person amid speculation of the requested DNA test for Liam..make una get sense small.”

@AgbafianTV wrote “If the News about mohbad wife allegedly giving birth is through, then know that women are ruthless in all their ways. To be able to deal with women, you’ve to be very ruthless. Don’t die because of any woman.”

@callme_Riken wrote; “I don’t know if the news about Mohbad’s wife, Wunmi, giving birth is true. But if it is. Sooner or later, she was going to move on, whether her father-in-law agreed to bury his son or not. Life doesn’t pause forever.”

@djokaymegamixer wrote on X; “I won’t be surprised if it’s later found out that the story of the late Mohbad’s widow, Wunmi, giving birth was a hoax. There is nothing these guys can’t tweet all in the name of hustling engagements for Elon Musk’s money.”