Author: Vardiafrica

Flights were grounded at the Port Harcourt International Airport following a protest embarked on by some women from the Ipo community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State The protesters all dressed in black blocked the airport roundabout gate which leads into the complex even as they brandished placards with various inscriptions some of which read: ‘What is our offence?’ ‘Over Seven Years of No NEPA Light,’ ‘No single access to mobile network,’ ‘No good access roads within Ipo community,’ among others. The situation disrupted flights within the airport for about two to three hours. A source inside the…

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has uncovered 27 cells belonging to the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in 22 countries across the globe, including the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland In a document obtained by Channels Television on ‘Counter Terrorism Financing Newsletter’ dated 26th February, 2024, the NFIU said the US and the UK house the largest numbers of these IPOB cells per country, with seven and six operating IPOB cells respectively in both countries. The Federal Government had in 2017 proscribed IPOB and designated the self-determination group a terrorist organisation. Its…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says security agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are investigating questionable foreign exchange allocations and forward contracts previously estimated at $2.4bn made by certain firms. Recently, the apex bank engaged a global firm, Deloitte, to carry out an audit of the $7 billion debts, revealing that about $2.4bn FX allocations from the $7bn backlogs were invalid. Briefing journalists in Abuja after the 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said security agencies were investigating the FX transactions that had been declared invalid by the audit report Cardoso…

President Bola Tinubu has declared that individuals involved in despicable crimes such as kidnapping must be treated as terrorists. The President made the declaration on Tuesday at a Ramadan dinner with members of the Federal judiciary led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola. Reiterating the government’s resolve to defeat banditry, the President said those who resort to kidnapping children are cowards, incapable of confronting the might of the Nigerian Armed Forces. ”We must treat kidnappers as terrorists,” the President said, according to a statement by his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale. “They are cowardly. They have been degraded.…

The observation missions deployed to Senegal by the European Union and West Africa’s regional bloc on Tuesday praised the smooth running of the presidential election, won by an anti-establishment opponent after three years of unrest. Around 7.3 million Senegalese were eligible to take part in Sunday’s vote, which saw 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye elected as the youngest president in the country’s history after his main rival and government candidate, Amadou Ba, conceded defeat. “Voting generally went smoothly and in a largely peaceful atmosphere,” said Ibrahim Gambari, head of the mission deployed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),…

Governor Dauda Lawal has met with President Bola Tinubu to discuss the alarming increase in banditry and related criminal activities in Zamfara State. The meeting was held on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. A statement by the spokesperson for the governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that the governor briefed President Tinubu on the security situation in Zamfara, particularly the resurgence of attacks in some areas. According to the statement, President Tinubu and the governor discussed various strategies and measures to tackle the insecurity, including enhanced security deployment, intelligence gathering, and community engagement programs. The meeting also highlighted the need…

Kaduna-based Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi has confirmed his invitation by security agencies over some comments he made on the activities of bandits. In a social media post on Tuesday, hours after the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said security agencies have summoned Gumi, the Islamic cleric said his engagement with security agencies on how to curb the menacing trend of banditry. The minister had said nobody is above the law and if found guilty, Gumi would be reprimanded. In his post titled, ‘Only one person is above the law: the innocent’, Gumi said, “Last night I got many frantic calls from…

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has hiked the benchmark interest rate by 200 basis points to 24.75 percent.  This is according to a Tuesday communique by the CBN governor Yemi Cardoso after the second MPC meeting of his tenure in Abuja. The new interest rate is a jump from the 22.75 percent announced by the MPC about a month ago and the second rate hike by the current committee. Cardoso announced the retention of the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of deposit money banks at 45 percent. However, the MPC adjusted the CRR of…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks in the country to expedite action to increase their capital base from the current ₦25bn. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso stated this during the apex bank’s 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday in Abuja, when the MPC hiked the interest rate by 22.75% to 24.75%. The apex bank chief said the MPC examined developments in the banking sector and expressed satisfaction that the industry remained stable. The committee, however, said to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts. Cardoso said,…

Amid the escape of Binance Holding Limited Africa Regional Manager, Nadeem Anjarwalla from the custody of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that it is the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate cryptocurrency transactions in the country, and not the responsibility of the apex bank. However, the apex bank disclosed that collaboration with SEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Office of the National Security Adviser has been yielding positive outcomes in the last one month. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso stated this during the apex bank’s…