Author: Vardiafrica

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally raised concerns over recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa at the African Union (AU), calling for urgent collective action to address the incidents. Tinubu made Nigeria’s position known through Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented him at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Luanda, Angola. The President urged African leaders to place the issue on the agenda of the 40th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly scheduled for January 2027, saying the attacks threatened the continent’s solidarity and peaceful coexistence. “Nigeria wishes to express…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive forensic audit of Nigeria’s federal payroll, personnel and financial management systems amid concerns over ghost workers, allegedly fictitious government agencies and weaknesses in the controls governing access to public funds. The audit will include a review of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), as well as ministries, departments, agencies, commissions, councils, parastatals and other federal government institutions. Tinubu has directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the  Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to oversee the exercise, according to a statement issued by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga. The directive follows a resolution…

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday directed a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football to overcome repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental, and world tournaments. Tinubu said, “The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football.” The president, in a release issued by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, stated that while other sports had recorded meaningful progress since the reset of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC), football had continued to struggle because of structural weaknesses within the system. ExecutiveBranch “Football, Nigeria’s most popular sport and the…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the Tinubu administration and its supporters to produce evidence of wrongdoing against him and invite him for investigation rather than recycle decades-old allegations whenever uncomfortable questions are raised about the management of Nigeria’s resources. Mr Atiku said the sudden resurrection of allegations concerning the power sector, privatisation and public assets was a predictable attempt to divert attention from the question confronting the Tinubu administration: where is the money accruing to government after subsidy was removed from ordinary Nigerians? In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Mr Atiku…

Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba has announced plans to run for president in 2031, signalling a possible bid to succeed his father, President Yoweri Museveni Kainerugaba, 52, said in a series of posts on X on Tuesday that he would seek Uganda’s highest political office in the next presidential election. “I will stand for the highest office in the land in 2031. And we will win by the grace of Almighty God,” he wrote. He also said he expected to win 90% of the vote with the support of his father, referring to Museveni as “Mzee”, an honorific commonly used…

Africa is set to launch its own credit ratings agency next month, in a move aimed at providing an alternative to the major international ratings firms. Paul Sikazwe, Technical Adviser on Debt at the African Union Commission, says the African credit ratings agency will be launched in Mauritius on October 5. Speaking at a conference on debt and development in Nairobi, Kenya, organised by campaign group Afrodad, Sikazwe described the launch as a major step towards reforming the international financial architecture. The African Peer Review Mechanism, or APRM, has been working for several years to establish an agency that will assess the…

Federal Government has launched the $1 billion HOPE-SP programme to move vulnerable Nigerians from temporary palliatives to sustainable empowerment and self reliance. The initiative, launched alongside four other programmes, are expected to improve how vulnerable households are identified, supported and tracked towards economic independence. First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu said the programmes would strengthen social protection and provide targeted assistance as economic reforms take effect. Humanitarian Affairs Minister Dr Bernard Doro said the new system would reduce duplication by unifying government databases and tracking beneficiaries through a “poverty graduation pathway.” Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, also commended the Federal…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged the management of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to do all within its powers to ensure Nigeria derives maximum benefits from its gas reserves rather than allowing them to be flared. The President said this Wednesday at the State House, where he received members of the NLNG Board led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Adeleye Falade. “I am inspired to understand that you are not limiting yourself to the gradual objective of upgrading. “My major concern is the domestic utilisation, where you must be able to take out the flaring…

Meta has agreed to an $18 billion settlement with 52 US attorneys general over claims that its platforms harmed children. The lawsuit was instituted by 29 US states, the BBC reported. Speaking on the agreement in a statement on Wednesday, the social media firm said the deal would lead to stricter measures to protect Facebook and Instagram users. The measures, according to the tech company, include stricter limits on teenagers’ screen time, overnight access, school-hour notifications, and new parental controls. While still subject to judicial approval, Meta said the measures would automatically apply to users under 18 years in “participating United States and territories”.…

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has called for increased investment in agriculture and other sustainable sectors to secure the future of the Niger Delta region. Speaking on Resource Control during the Nigeria Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, stated that while oil had been a blessing to the nation and had contributed significantly to development, the region could not afford to remain dependent on it indefinitely. He stressed the need for stakeholders to ask fundamental questions about the region’s future beyond oil, particularly by identifying areas where Niger Deltans…