Author: Vardiafrica

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has distributed a total sum of N1.818 trillion to the Federal Government, State Governments, and Local Government Councils as Federation Account revenue for the month of June 2025. This represents a 9.6% increase—equivalent to N159 billion—when compared to the N1.659 trillion shared in May 2025. This was disclosed in a press statement issued on Saturday by Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF). The allocation followed the July 2025 FAAC meeting held in Abuja, where government officials reviewed revenue inflows and approved…

Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the anti-graft agency is currently investigating 18 sitting governors. Speaking during a sensitisation programme in Lagos on Friday, Olukoyede said the agency will take action when the tenure of the governors elapses. The programme was organised to sensitise stakeholders, including movie producers and bureau de change operators, on the ills of naira mutilation and abuse. During the question and answer session, the EFCC boss narrated how a former governor was arrested in the United Kingdom because a hotel manager thought he was mad for spraying pounds. Olukoyede said the former…

The United States has announced a mandatory $250 visa integrity fee for non-immigrant travellers, with no room for waivers. The new fee is contained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the Donald Trump administration. The bill also permits the secretary of homeland security to set the fee higher. Travellers may get a reimbursement if they comply with all the conditions of their visas. These include not accepting unauthorised employment, not seeking to extend their validated stay, and departing the US not later than five days after the last day of such period. Visitors who are granted the status of…

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has called on critical stakeholders in the anti-graft war to join hands with the Commission in tackling the menace of naira abuse in the country. He appealed on Friday during an engagement with critical stakeholders comprising movie producers, musicians, non-governmental organisations, media, bureau de change operators, legal practitioners, security agencies, among others He said the sensitisation programme organised by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC, was a fallout of the increasing spate of Naira mutilation and abuse in the country. The EFCC boss described the…

Monday Okpebholo, governor of Edo, has warned Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, not to come to the state again without security clearance. Speaking on Friday while receiving Marcus Onobun, member of the house of representatives, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Okpebholo said Obi’s recent visit to the state coincided with the killing of three people. The governor accused Obi of contributing to a resurgence of violence in the state. “That man who says he has no ‘shishi’ came and dropped N15 million. Where did he get it from? After he…

Former senator and politician Dino Melaye on Friday appeared in court for the first time as a practicing lawyer, marking his formal entry into the legal profession after years in public service. Melaye, who recently qualified as a lawyer, donned the full courtroom attire of wig and gown as he appeared before Justice Emeka Nwite at Court 8 of the Federal High Court in Abuja. His appearance follows his recent call to the Nigerian Bar earlier this month, after completing his law degree at Baze University. “Senator Dino Melaye at the Federal High Court Abuja today. Appeared before Justice Emeka…

President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Kano to personally condole with the family of Aminu Dantata, the late business mogul and philanthropist, who passed away on June 28 at the age of 94. The president landed at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport from Abuja on Friday and proceeded to the residence of the Dantata family. Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said the visit was necessary given Tinubu’s absence from the country at the time of Dantata’s death and burial in Saudi Arabia. “President Tinubu was out of the country at the time of Dantata’s passing but…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of the South-East Investment Company (SEIC), a N150 billion investment vehicle designed to fast-track industrialisation and unlock private capital for transformative projects in the South-East. The new initiative will operate as a subsidiary under the South-East Development Commission (SEDC) and is expected to mobilise long-term financing for infrastructure, entrepreneurship, education, and skills development in the region. “With a projected blended capital base of over N150 billion, SEIC will mobilise resources through hybrid bonds, equity participation, and callable capital structures,” the statement reads. “Pilot investments and structured fundraising activities are expected to commence in…

The Governor of Akwa Ibom State in Southern Nigeria, Umo Eno, and Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, visited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday. During the visit, President Tinubu formally welcomed the Governor to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party. In another development, Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, has said that Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State is the leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state.Onanuga made the remark in a post on X on Friday, following a visit by Governor Eno and Senate President Godswill Akpabio to President Bola Tinubu. He wrote: “Akwa Ibom Governor,…

France returned its last two military bases to Senegalese forces Thursday morning amid a wave of anti-French sentiment in West Africa. General Mbaye Cissé and Chief of the French command in Africa, Pascal Ianni, oversaw the official handover ceremony in Dakar, which marks the end of France’s 65-year presence in Senegal. “This is an important turning point in the rich and long military history between our two countries.” General Cissé said in his speech during the event. He noted that the French and Senegalese armies had “defined new objectives” to “give new meaning to the security partnership” between the two…