Author: Vardiafrica

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has proposed a total sum of N1.911 trillion as its 2024 aggregate expenditure Managing Director of the Commission, Samuel Ogbuku, declared this on Monday during the presentation of the NDDC budget estimates for 2024 tagged ‘Budget of Renewed Hope Agenda’, before the Senate Committee on NDDC chaired by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong. Ogbuku pegged the proposed revenue brought forward at N12 billion. The arrears owed by the Federal Government and Recoveries by Federal Government agencies stands at 170 billion naira. In a further breakdown, legacy projects funded through borrowings is pegged at N1 trillion. According…

A military aircraft carrying Malawi’s vice president Saulos Chilima has been reported missing after it failed to make a landing Monday morning, the government said “All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” the government said in a statement. The plane, which took off just after 9:00 am local time (0700 GMT), was carrying 51-year-old Chilima and nine others. President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered regional and national forces to conduct an “immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft”, the statement said. Chakwera,…

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has emerged as the Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum. This follows the death of the former Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, who died eight months ago. Briefing newsmen at the Lagos House, Alausa after over four hours of meeting behind closed doors, Governor Sanwo-Olu, said the decision was a unanimous one by the six governors present. He said the South-West Governors’ Forum kicked against the agitation of Yoruba Nation, and also assured citizens that the new minimum wage to be announced by the Federal Government will reflect true federalism. The South-West…

The Organised Labour says it won’t accept any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 “starvation wage” as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers. Chris Onyeka, an Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), stated this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday. He insisted on ₦250,000, labour’s latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday, as the living wage for an average Nigerian worker. He said labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of ₦62,000 and the ₦100,000 proposal by some individuals and economists. Onyeka said, “We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage…

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has received South-West governors, who are currently in Lagos for their zonal meeting. Governor Sanwo-Olu, accompanied by his deputy, Kadri Hazmat, received Governors Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Ademola Adeleke of Osun, and Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti state at the Lagos House, Ikeja. The meeting by the South-West Governors Forum, is expected to address issues affecting the zone, the new national minimum wage and Nigeria as a whole. The South-West Governors Forum is the umbrella body for all the six governors in the geo-political zone. The closed-door…

Dangote Sinotruk West Africa inaugurated a completely knocked down (CKD) truck assembly plant in Lagos state on Sunday. The inauguration had in attendance Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos. In a statement posted on X, Sanwo-Olu said the plant, situated in Ikeja, can produce 10,000 trucks annually and create about 3,000 jobs across Nigeria. “Today, I joined the President of the Senate, Hon. Godswill Akpabio for the commissioning of the CKD plant at Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Limited in Ikeja,” Sanwo-Olu said “With the capacity to assemble and produce 10,000 trucks annually, Dangote Sinotruk West Africa is…

State governors have called on the federal government to enforce a “no-meter, no-service” policy for all new electricity connections in the country. The plea was outlined in the Development of the National Integrated Electricity Policy & Strategic Implementation Plan: Policy Recommendations by State Governments to the Federal Ministry of Power document from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. In the document, state governments highlighted the critical importance of electricity meters in bridging the significant metering gap, which is essential for the viability of sub-national markets. The states also argued that State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) should have the autonomy to determine the…

Organised Labour on Saturday tackled the state governors, accusing them of acting in bad faith towards the new minimum wage negotiations ongoing in the country. Recall that the governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum rejected the proposed N60,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers. In a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs for NGF, Halimah Ahmed, the governors said the proposed minimum wage was too high and not sustainable. The governors said if the N60,000 minimum wage is adopted, many states would allocate their entire Federal Account Allocation Committee funds to salaries,…

Narendra Modi has been sworn in as India’s prime minister for a historic but unexpectedly constrained third term, after a relatively weak election performance caused by citizens’ concerns over rising inflation and unemployment. A survey published in The Hindu national newspaper on Thursday showed that concerns over inflation and a lack of decent jobs to employ India’s vast working-age population almost crushed Modi’s third term bid. The 73-year-old performance in the over one-month long election will leave him dependent on coalition allies in the world’s biggest democracy. Modi, flanked by officials from his Hindu-nationalist party and his coalition members, vowed…

Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has said the Federal Government has commenced an investigation into a viral video of 10 Nigerian teenagers who were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution. The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, who disclosed this on Saturday at the ‘Unlock Training and Grants’ ceremony in Abuja, said the ban on lodging of young girls in hotels will help tackle the menace of trafficking. She was reacting to the recent rescue of ten teenage Nigerian girls allegedly trafficked to Ghana for prostitution. Kennedy-Ohaneye said action against such practices like trafficking from the Ministry of Women Affairs…