Author: Vardiafrica

Some residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were on Sunday thrown into darkness as sabouteurs vandalised the Shiroro-Katampe 330kV transmission line.  According to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the vandalism of the transmission line makes it the fifth of such incident within February and March this. The incident happened at 9am on Sunday. “Following initial investigations, TCN engineers attempted to restore operation but were unsuccessful,” said a spokesperson for the TCN, Ndidi Mbah. Mbah, in a statement, said efforts were made to identify the fault location, while linesmen were dispatched to physically patrol the suspected area. “During the…

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is partnering the Training Arm of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in risk assessment of procurement and human resources processes at the Board in a push for excellence and transparency Initiated by the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the NCDMB as part of its 2024 Action Plan, the Comprehensive Risk Assessment in the Procurement and Human Resources (HR) Departments is intended to identify and assess corruption risks in processes within those two critical functional organs, “evaluate the effectiveness of existing control mechanisms,” “recommend improvements to mitigate identified risks,” and “promote a culture of integrity and ethical behaviour.” In…

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to give back the food items they seized at the border communities to the rightful owners, with the requirement that the items should be sold in Nigerian markets. The Customs Chief, Adewale Adeniyi, talked about this in Katsina yesterday while meeting with people from border areas at Kongolam and Mai’Adua border stations. The Customs chief mentioned that President Tinubu had made a decision to use his authority not based on legal guidelines, “but rather reflecting the deep sense of generosity he holds towards Nigeria.” Adeniyi said: “In doing so, he has…

Troops have killed 20 members of IPOB/ESN during a raid/clearance operation in Mother Valley, Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State. The operation which occurred on March 7 involved troops of Operation Udo Ka, the police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Confirming this in a statement on Sunday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said the security operatives “cleared about 50 IPOB/ESN hideout tents in the valley including terrorists Supreme Headquarters and their Command and Control Centre as well as its Military Council Headquarters.” “Troops also,…

Goldman Sachs says the naira will appreciate to N1,200 against the dollars in the next twelve months. The financial institution made this known in a recent research note by its analysts, Andrew Matheny and Bojosi Morule. Goldman Sachs said tackling Nigeria’s currency and external liquidity crisis requires positive real interest rates and capital inflows. The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on February 27, raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which benchmarks interest rates, from 18.75 percent to 22.75 percent. Due to the central bank’s monetary policy adjustments and bill issuance, Goldman Sachs said both conditions are present in the…

President Bola Tinubu will visit Niger State on Monday, the state government has said. Briefing journalists in Minna on Sunday, the State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Hon. Binta Mamman, said arrangements have been concluded by the government to ensure a smooth visit of the President. The Minna International Airport named after Abubakar Iman will now be renamed after President Tinubu, the commissioner said. She said President Tinubu is to visit the state to commission agricultural equipment worth billions of naira procured by the state government in the state among others in the state According to her, all necessary measures…

Presidential candidates in Senegal kicked off their election campaigns on Saturday, following weeks of violent protests across the African country after the vote was delayed. The 19 approved candidates vying for the top job now have a shorter period to rally supporters ahead of the March 24 election, expected to be the most tightly contested race since Senegal gained independence more than six decades ago. The former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall, who is running for the fourth time, organized a marching caravan through the streets of the capital to begin his campaign. The front-runners will likely be former Prime…

Vice President Kashim Shettima has met with the leaders of the Kuriga community in Kaduna State and the representatives of families of students abducted in the state. Close to 300 students of LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School in Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State were abducted earlier in the week. But at the meeting on Saturday at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House in Kaduna, Shettima assured of the government’s resolve to ensure the students are rescued. He told them that the president has instructed security agencies to leave no stone unturned until all the kids…

Rwanda’s ruling party on Saturday picked President Paul Kagame as its candidate for the July election, teeing up a contest widely expected to return the longtime leader to office for a fourth seven-year term. The 66-year-old has ruled over the landlocked African nation for decades, winning the presidency in elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017 — with more than 90 percent of the vote. Kagame’s candidacy was unopposed during the Rwandan Patriotic Front congress, which ended Saturday, the party said. Kagame said he had accepted the nomination but urged the ruling party to prepare for transition beyond him. “The burden…

Nigerian midfielder, Alex Iwobi set a new Premier League record on Saturday after scoring a late consolatory goal for Fulham in their 2-1 loss away at the Molineux Stadium. Iwobi halved Wolved deficit deep into stoppage time with a clever improvised finish but there was barely time for the game to restart as Wolves held on after Rayan Ait-Nouri scored early in the second half, converting from Toti Gomes’ pull back after Fulham failed to deal adequately with a free-kick from deep. Nelson Semedo’s deflected shot off Tom Cairney made it 2-0 for Wolves before Iwobi struck late on for…