Author: Vardiafrica

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has urged President Bola Tinubu, to immediately direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to withdraw the cybersecurity levy on Nigerians, saying it patently violates the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], and the country’s international human rights obligations and commitments. In a statement signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said the Tinubu administration must within 48 hours withdraw the patently arbitrary and unlawful CBN directive purportedly imposing cybersecurity levy on Nigerians. SERAP also urged him, to stop Nuhu Ribadu and the office of the National Security Adviser…

A Japanese consortium recently unveiled the world’s first high-speed 6G prototype device. It can transmit data at a whopping 100 gigabits per second (Gbps), covering more than 300 feet. That’s a 20x improvement over the current 5G technology. The prototype device was a result of collaboration among Japan’s leading telecom companies, including DOCOMO, NTT Corporation, NEC Corporation, and Fujitsu. The consortium announced the successful test results on April 11th where the companies revealed that the prototype device can achieve speeds of 100 Gbps indoors using the 100 gigahertz (GHz) band and outdoors using the 300 GHz band These tests were…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks and other financial institutions to implement a 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers. This is contained in a circular signed by Chibuzor Efobi, director of payments system management and Haruna Mustafa, director of financial policy and regulation on Monday. The directive was issued to commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks, as well as mobile money operators. CBN said the policy would take effect in two weeks and charges would be described as ‘Cybersecurity Levy’. According to the apex bank, the deduction and collection of the cybersecurity levy is a…

The First Lady Oluremi Tinubu on Monday hosted 2nd Lieutenant Princess Oluchukwu Owowoh, First Nigerian Female Graduate of the UK’s Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (RMAS). The 24-year-old Owowoh was one of the 135 officer cadets to graduate during RMAS’ sovereign’s parade in London on April 12. According to a statement by the Nigerian Army, Senator Tinubu received Owowoh, who was led by Major General John Ochai, the Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), at the State House. The First Lady was said to have described Owowoh’s achievement as outstanding and divine. She commended the Nigeria Army for giving a female the…

Vice President Kashim Shettima, originally scheduled to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa, has been forced to make a detour. Shettima was expected to join other political and business leaders across Africa, the United States of America and beyond for the summit featuring high-level dialogues, networking business sessions and the plenary. The summit is scheduled to be held from May 6 to May 9, 2024 However, a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, on Monday, revealed that a technical fault with the VP’s…

Rivers State governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as currently led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule, were no longer lawmakers. Fubara noted that in seeking peaceful resolution to the political crisis that erupted in the state last year, he had attended several reconciliation meetings, whose resolutions the other party, where the state’s lawmakers belong, had rebuffed. Governor Fubara spoke on Monday evening when he received on courtesy visit the Bayelsa State delegation of political and traditional leaders, led by former governor of the state, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, at…

The Federal Government, through the Securities and Exchange Commission, is set to delist the naira from all Peer-to-Peer platforms to reduce the manipulation of the local currency value in the foreign exchange market. Emomotimi Agama, the SEC’s Director General, disclosed this during an interactive session with the Nigerian Blockchain Industry. This is expected to be part of a couple of regulations that will be rolled out in the coming days. He said: “That is one of the things that must be done to save this space. The delisting of the naira from the P2P platforms to avoid the level of…

The political face-off between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly is showing no signs of reprieve as the House is tackling the governor over the state’s Public Procurement Law. At plenary on Monday, the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, accused the governor of financial irresponsibility and recklessness in the way he spent money without appropriation. One of the items on the agenda for the day’s sitting was the governor’s handling of state financing which the Speaker condemned. The Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol, asked his colleagues to veto the governor on the state public procurement amendment…

Britain’s King Charles III on Monday marked the first anniversary of his coronation following a difficult year that has seen a cancer diagnosis and continuing tensions with his estranged son Prince Harry. To celebrate the occasion a 41-gun salute rang out from Green Park next to Buckingham Palace at noon (1100 GMT), followed an hour later with 62 volleys fired from another central London location. No official events, however, were planned with the milestone coming less than a week after King Charles resumed public duties since his diagnosis. He visited fellow cancer patients at a London hospital on Tuesday after…

The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government has said it is not true that there are discussions between Nigeria and some foreign countries to establish foreign military bases in the country. The Minister for information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, in a statement on Monday urged Nigerians to disregard the “falsehood.” SaharaReporters had on Saturday reported that some eminent leaders in the country as well as civil society organisations cautioned Tinubu against allowing the United States and the French governments to relocate their military bases from the Sahel to Nigeria. In an open letter to Tinubu and the leadership of the National…