Author: Vardiafrica

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri on Thursday in Abuja inaugurated the 4th Governing Council of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).The NCDMB Governing Council is set up under the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act and draws membership from representatives of select institutions connected with the oil and gas industry. Members of the new NCDMB Council were first announced by President Bola Tinubu on December 7, 2023, and they would be chaired by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, while the Executive Secretary of…

President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Doha, Qatar on an official visit to the Middle East country. Tinubu, who left Lagos after inaugurating the Lagos Red Line on Thursday afternoon, landed in Doha at 9:35 pm The media aide to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement on Wednesday, had said the visit, which was on invitation of His Highness, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, was to further strengthen cooperation between the two nations in several areas, including security, cultural exchange, and economic development. He said that during the visit, President Tinubu will…

 President Bola Tinubu on Thursday inaugurated the first phase of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Red Line project, a 37km project expected to reduce travel time and improve transportation and logistics in the state.  The President also witnessed the signing of the contract for Phase 2 of the LRMT Red Line project by the Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Engr. Abimbola Akinajo, and the Chairman of CCECC Nigeria Limited, Jason Zhang. The President, before departing for a state visit to Qatar, embarked on an inaugural train ride from the Ikeja station to the Agege station,…

In the quest for a stable power supply across the country, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, met with the Forum of Commissioners of Energy in Nigeria, comprising 23 states. This was even as the minister stated that the move was aimed at addressing the root cause of the electricity challenge in the country. While addressing the forum of energy commissioners, Adelabu said that with the efforts put in place, Nigerians will soon start experiencing regular power supply. “We are poised to address the root cause of the electricity challenge. We have done enough diagnostics, we know the cause of…

Russia will introduce a six-month ban on petrol exports from March 1 to ensure it has enough fuel to meet domestic demand, the government said Thursday. Despite being the world’s third largest oil producer, Russia has suffered sporadic fuel shortages since last summer amid high demand and repair works on refineries. Wholesale gasoline prices have risen since the start of the year, a problem exacerbated by repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries. “Restrictions on petrol exports are introduced for six months, from 1 March to 31 August,” the government said in a statement Thursday. It said the move was…

The Senate, on Thursday, directed the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force to recruit a minimum of 10 candidates from each of the 774 local government councils in Nigeria. The directive, according to the Upper Chamber, should form part of its annual recruitment processes. The resolution was reached as a result of a motion moved by Sen. Emmanuel, Udende Memga representing Benue North East, on the need for the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force, to adhere to the Federal Character Principle in the recruitment of constables in the Nigerian Police Force. The Upper Chamber also…

Senate on Thursday, February 29, confirmed four out of five nominees as members of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria. At a sitting on Thursday, February 29, 2024, the Upper Chamber said the approval was under sections 6(1), (2) (d) and 10 of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007. The confirmation follows the submission and consideration of a report by the Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Insurance & Other Financial Institutions, Sen. Adetokunbo Abiru representing Lagos East. Initially, the candidates billed to appear before the Upper Chamber were Robert Agbede, Ado Yakubu Wanka, Professor…

In its latest move to resolve challenges around power supply in the country, the Federal Government said it has bought over a total of 10 mobile power stations. Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu revealed this on Wednesday, February 28, when he met with the Forum of Commissioners of Energy in Nigeria, in a bid to strengthen collaboration between the Federal and State governments towards achieving regular power supply. In a press statement signed by the Special Adviser, Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Ministry of Power, Bolaji Tunji on Thursday, February 29, said while addressing the forum which had 23…

Telecommunications company MTN Nigeria has explained that the network outage experienced by its subscribers for the major part of Wednesday was caused by “multiple fibre cuts”. MTN boasts of 87,038,768 subscribers as of December 2023, according to data by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), representing 38.79% of the total market share, the highest in the country by any licensed Mobile Network Operator (MNO). The 87 million subscribers of the MNO experienced difficulty making and receiving calls for hours on Wednesday, fuelling rumours that the NCC had made do its threat that all telcos bar subscribers not linked to the National…

 Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive to telecom service providers to bar subscribers who have failed to link their phone numbers to their National Identification Numbers (NIN) on or before February 28, 2024. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Aminu Maida, who gave the directive through the Director of Public Affairs, Ruben Mouka, at the 45th Kaduna International Trade Fair on Wednesday, insisted that as matter of critical national security, telecom consumers must link their NIN to their SIM cards. He insisted that the February 28th deadline given to telecom operators to bar subscribers who failed to…