Author: News Room

Hallmark Channel is known for its Christmas movies, but the network has expanded to Hanukkah-themed features as well. In 2012, Hitched for the Holidays paid homage to several Hanukkah traditions, but it wasn’t until 2019 that Hallmark started making at least one Judaism-focused holiday movie for the season. Both Double Holiday and Holiday Date focused on Hanukkah festivities in 2019 before Love, Lights, Hanukkah! continued the tradition in 2020. The network has since given viewers a closer look at the religious celebration with 2021’s Eight Gifts of Hanukkah and 2022’s Hanukkah on Rye. Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. In…

Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State on Thursday appointed Abdulkadir Muhammed as the new Head of Service. The appointment was announced in a statement issued by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Abubakar Bawa. The appointment of the new Head of Service follows the retirement of his predecessor, Suleiman Ahmad, from the state civil service. In addition to the Head of Service, Governor Aliyu approved the appointment of Special Advisers: Umar Oro, Faruku Labbo, Zainab Dasuki, and Kammaluddeen Lemi. Also appointed as permanent secretaries are Abubakar Bello, Kabiru Labaran, and Sani Bingi, while Salihu Galadanci and Kasimu Sadiq were appointed as…

If anybody deserved to be called Mr PUNCH, it would undoubtedly be this Ijebu-born, Lagos city boy, who undeniably gave his all to an organisation that took him from ‘nothing’ to something regal and admirable… His reputation had been out there for years before I joined The PUNCH in 2003, for professional, and undeniably, for economic reasons. Punch Newspaper Ltd was synonymous with its Ibadan roots and its amiable founder and publisher, Chief Olu Aboderin, of blessed memory. At its old headquarters in Onipetesi-Mangoro, a suburban Lagos area, it was for a reason of heritage that the private estate in…

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has dismissed growing speculation that he intends to contest the Bauchi State governorship in 2027. Mr Pate said his full attention remains on implementing health sector reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. He made the clarification on Sunday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he was asked directly about recurring discussions linking him to Bauchi State politics. Mr Pate said he is 1,000 per cent focused and committed to delivering on the president’s health transformation agenda. Tinubu agenda Mr Pate stressed that he remains firmly aligned with…

Over 12,000 Nigerian graduates have successfully uploaded their final year research projects to the Nigerian government’s recently established National Education Repository and Databank (NERD), a month after the portal went live on 14 October. According to a PREMIUM TIMES review of the portal on Wednesday, the Ekiti State University (EKSU) leads with 980 project submissions, comprising 974 undergraduate and six postgraduate entries. It is followed by Bayero University, Kano (BUK), with 643 undergraduate entries and zero postgraduate entries, as well as the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) with 568 undergraduate entries. Other institutions at the top of the uploads list are:…

The Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative, DRDI–DAG, has called for stronger fiscal transparency, improved budget performance and inclusive citizen participation across local governments in Jigawa State. The Executive Director of DRDI, Dr Muhammad Mustapha Yahaya, made the call during the presentation of findings from the organisation’s comprehensive research on Local Government Budget Performance, Fiscal Transparency and Citizen Participation (2020–2024) at a stakeholder engagement held in Jigawa State. According to the findings, “the research assessed six local government areas — Ringim, Kiyawa, Mallam Madori, Gagarawa, Hadejia and Birnin Kudu — and discovered that most of them remain heavily dependent on federal…

The Bauchi State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Caretaker Committee aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has directed executives loyal to Governor Bala Mohammed to vacate all PDP secretariats across the state within 14 days. The directive was issued by the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, during a press conference in Bauchi. He warned that failure to comply would attract lawful consequences. Jungudo said the committee was appointed by the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, to oversee the affairs of the party in Bauchi State and restore order following internal crises. “The…

Schools won cash prizes and educational materials worth a total of N4.8 million at the 2025 edition of the Annual Schools’ Quiz and Debate Competition, organised by the Ogun–Guangdong Free Trade Zone. The competition, held at the Community Civic Centre, Igbesa, Ogun State, produced winners across the primary, junior secondary and senior secondary school categories, with each category receiving cash prizes and educational materials valued at N1.6m. In the primary school category, China–Nigeria Friendship Primary School emerged as the winner, followed by St. Jude Primary School, Itekun, in second place, and Salvation Army Primary School in third place. Igbesa High…

Chairman of the committee investigating school vandalism in Gombe State, Aliyu Kamara, has warned that anyone found culpable would face the full weight of the law. Kamara made this statement during an assessment of school facilities in the Balanga Local Government Area. He explained that the committee is currently investigating incidents of school vandalism across the state and will include recommendations for appropriate sanctions in its report to the governor. Governor Muhammadu Yahaya had last month appointed the Kamara-led committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the rising cases of vandalism targeting primary and secondary schools across Gombe State. The…

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control on Thursday destroyed illicit, banned, substandard, and unwholesome drugs and pharmaceutical products worth over N55bn in Ibadan, Oyo State. The Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, announced the exercise, which took place at a dumpsite in Moniya, Akinyele Local Government Area, as part of the agency’s routine mandate to prevent expired, substandard, and falsified medical devices and other spurious or unsafe NAFDAC-regulated products from re-entering circulation. NAFDAC is tasked with safeguarding the health of every Nigerian and remains committed to eliminating substandard and falsified medical products, illicit drugs, unwholesome foods,…