Author: Vardiafrica

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Adolphus Wabara, has appealed to warring members of the party to sheathe their swords and prioritize reconciliation for the sake of the party’s unity Wabara made the call while chairing a BoT meeting at the Bauchi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro on Wednesday, emphasizing that the board would remain neutral and focus solely on mediating differences. Present at the meeting were BoT Secretary Ahmed Makarafi, Jerry Gana, Senator Ben Obi, Josephine Anenih, Zainab Maina, and members of the Umar Damagum-led National Working Committee (NWC). This marked the first appearance of…

Singapore is planning to introduce caning as punishment for scammers. During the bill’s second reading on Tuesday, Sim Ann, senior minister of state for home and foreign affairs, said the country lost more than $2.8 billion through scams — from 2020 up to the first half of 2025. She added that around 190,000 cases of scamming had been reported during the period. “We will introduce mandatory caning for scammers. Offenders who commit scams, defined as cheating mainly by means of remote communication, will be punished with at least six strokes of the cane,” she said. “These syndicates mobilise significant resources to conduct…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it is working to increase its equity stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to 20 percent, as part of its strategic investment drive in the downstream oil sector. Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Bayo Ojulari disclosed this on Tuesday during a session at the ADIPEC Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to a report by Reuters. NNPC had initially proposed to acquire a 20 percent stake in the Dangote Refinery for $2.76 billion in 2021. However, in July 2024, the refinery’s founder, Aliko Dangote, revealed that the state oil company had scaled back…

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is set to replace the emergency travel certificate (ETC) with a single travel emergency passport (STEP). Kemi Nandap, NIS comptroller-general, announced the measure at the joint thematic meeting of the Khartoum, Rabat and Niamey processes, organised and co-hosted by Nigeria in collaboration with France. The two-day meeting was held in Lagos and convened stakeholders in migration management including the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internal Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP), representatives from ECOWAS, African Union (AU), European Union (EU), African and European countries. An ETC) is a…

The Department of State Services (DSS) has dismissed 115 of its personnel over various acts of misconduct, urging the public to beware of individuals parading themselves as serving officers of the agency. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the DSS said the disciplinary action followed internal investigations which confirmed the affected personnel had violated the agency’s code of conduct and professional ethics. According to the statement, the Service reiterated its commitment to maintaining professionalism, integrity, and accountability within its ranks. “The DSS will continue to uphold the highest standards of discipline. Those found wanting will face appropriate sanctions. We also…

The Nigerian government has launched the Federal Tertiary Institutions Governance and Transparency Portal (FTIGTP), aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and good governance across the nation’s tertiary education system. The portal was unveiled by the Federal Ministry of Education. The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa at the launch in Abuja, Nigeria said the portal will restore public trust and enable evidence-based policies and reforms in the universities aimed at improving performance-based funding decisions and resource allocation. He said the portal became imperative because for many years, data on tertiary education in Nigeria has been scattered across multiple platforms, paper…

Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja for Brazil to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 30th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference tagged COP 30 scheduled to hold in the South American country. The summit convened by Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in collaboration with other partners, will be held from November 6 to 7 in the city of Belém, capital of the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon. Vice President Shettima is billed to join other world leaders, development partners and business executives at the event themed, “Climate Action and Implementation,” with a…

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, has reiterated the Nigeria Customs Service’s commitment to collaborating closely with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to enhance continental trade integration, improve data accuracy, and address structural barriers hindering intra-African trade. The Customs Chief made this known on Monday, 3 November 2025, during a courtesy visit to the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, where he met with senior officials to discuss collaborative strategies for enhancing Customs efficiency and promoting the success of the AfCFTA Agreement. During the meeting, CGC Adeniyi commended the Secretariat for its continuous role in mobilising key stakeholders,…

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to secure $2.347bn in foreign loans to part-finance the 2025 budget deficit and refinance Nigeria’s maturing Eurobonds. The approval, granted separately by the Senate and the House of Representatives, also included authorisation for the issuance of a $500m debut Sovereign Sukuk in the international capital market. In the House of Representatives, the approval followed the adoption of a report presented by the Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debt Management, chaired by Abubakar Nalaraba, during plenary presided over by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas. The committee’s report indicated that $1.23bn would fund…

A high court in Oyo has ordered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Umar Damagum, the national chairman, to proceed with the party’s national convention on November 15 in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.  A.L. Akintola, the presiding judge, issued the order on Monday following an ex parte application filed by Folahan Malomo Adelabi. The PDP, Damagum, Umar Fintiri, governor of the state, and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were listed as defendants in the suit filed on Monday. Adelabi asked the court for an interim injunction restrained the defendants from “truncating, frustrating, the Guidelines, Timetable and Schedule of Activity and/or disrupting, preventing and…