Author: Vardiafrica

The Rivers State House of Assembly has ruled against Governor Siminalayi Fubara to enact the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) Service Commission Law. The House of Assembly had convened an unscheduled sitting on Friday during which they observed that more than the constitutionally required 30 days had elapsed since they sent the notice of the amendment to the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission law to the governor for his assent. This makes it the second time the Rivers State House of Assembly will override the governor to pass a law this year. In January, the lawmakers voted…

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has appointed his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of the Military in the East African country.   According to Reuters, the news was relayed in a statement by the nation’s defence ministry on Friday.   Muhoozi Kainerugaba a forty-eight (48) year-old general in the Ugandan military widely believed to be his father’s successor would replace Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, who was removed and appointed as a junior minister.  In 2002 Muhoozi caused much controversy when he threatened on his X page to invade neighboring Kenya. This prompted his father President Museveni to remove him as the commander of Uganda’s land…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has commended Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, for repealing the law that allowed former governors and their deputies to collect pensions. He admonished other state governors to emulate Otti to reduce the cost of governance. The former President spoke during a courtesy visit to Otti at the Governor’s country home in Nvosi, Isialangwa South Local Government Area. He congratulated the Governor for ending the pension to former governors and former deputy governors which he described as daylight robbery. “The pension scheme for former governor here is atrocious, it’s like daylight robbery because it allows them to…

Alex Otti, governor of Abia, has signed the bill which repeals pension payments to former governors of the state and their deputies. On Tuesday, the Abia house of assembly passed the bill for a law to repeal ‘The Abia State Governors & Deputy Governors Pensions Law No 4 of 2001’. The law stipulated that former Abia governors and deputies are entitled to 100 percent of the annual basic salaries of the incumbent governor and deputy; their cooks, stewards, drivers, and gardeners are to be paid by the state; and are entitled to three police officers and two operatives of the Department of…

The National Economic Council (NEC) says it has received reports for the creation of state police from 16 states of the federation. Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who heads the NEC, disclosed this in a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, his spokesperson, after NEC’s 140th meeting on Thursday. Nkwocha said Nebeolisa Anako, NEC secretary, made a presentation on submissions by states on the state policing initiative. He said 20 states are yet to send in reports, but added that all states expressed their support for the establishment of state police. The states that have sent in reports and those yet to were not…

President Bola Tinubu has reacted to the alleged padding of the 2024 Appropriations Act by the members of the Nigerian Senate. The President while hosting the lawmakers at the State House in Abuja for Ramadan Iftar (breaking of Muslim fast) on Thursday claimed that those spreading the allegation of irregularities in the budget legislative process are not properly informed. He said he knew the figures that he tendered before the Senate and also what was eventually approved by them, adding that the Senators were people whose integrity had helped his administration since his inauguration. He said, “I know the arithmetic…

A week after the tragic murder of military personnel in Delta State, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, has warned traditional rulers in the state against protecting suspects in the incident. Seventeen military personnel – a lieutenant colonel, two majors, one captain, and 13 soldiers — were killed while on a “peacekeeping mission” in Okuama community, Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state last Thursday in a major blow to the country’s military. As authorities in the country intensify work on the matter, Governor Oborevwori wants traditional rulers to cooperate in the investigations While addressing traditional rulers on the unfortunate incident at…

A team of surgeons have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a living patient for the first time, a US hospital said Thursday. The four-hour operation was carried out on Saturday on a 62-year-old man suffering from end-stage kidney disease, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) said. “The procedure marks a major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients,” the hospital said in a statement. Organ shortages are a chronic problem around the world and the Boston hospital said there are more than 1,400 patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant at MGH…

Popular Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi says security agencies have no right to declare any Nigerian a terror financier. Gumi, who stated this on X space organised by Daily Trust on Wednesday, was reacting to a recent list by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), declaring his close associate, Kaduna-based publisher, Tukur Mamu, and 14 others as terror sponsors. The NFIU reportedly listed the identity of the 15 entities, including nine individuals and six Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and firms. One of the identified individuals is Mamu, who is currently being tried by the Federal Government for allegedly aiding the…

The presidency is optimistic about better days for the naira and is asking currency speculators to dump their cache of dollars.  Nigeria’s naira currency has recently slid downwards against major currencies like the dollar, going for $1 to N1,500 in the parallel market. But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently cleared the country’s FX backlog inherited from the previous administration, a move presidential aide Bayo Onanuga said will lead to the appreciation of the naira. “With backlog FX settled, Naira is set to appreciate further, faster. Currency speculators should quickly dump their stock of dollars to avoid sorrows and…