Author: Vardiafrica

former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has paid a visit to former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and renowned cleric, Pastor Tunde Bakare in Lagos. El-Rufai’s media adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, disclosed the visit in a tweet yesterday. “Malam Nasir @elrufai was in Lagos today to visit Ogbeni @raufaregbesola and Pastor Tunde Bakare,” Adekeye wrote. His visit to Lagos came days after visiting former President Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna. Credible sources said El-Rufai had notified Buhari about his next political moves. Daily Trust reports that some of his associates, especially in Kaduna have recently defected to the Social Democratic…

The President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government is set to launch mass electric vehicle transportation in North-East Nigeria. This follows the approved of contracts worth nearly $100m (N151.9bn) by the Federal Executive Council to supply electric vehicles and establish charging infrastructure in the region. In a statement on Sunday, Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, recalled that FEC approved the contract for the supply of ten 17-seater electric buses last week. Giving a breakdown of contracts, Onanuga said Bluecrest Integrated Concept Limited was awarded a N2.9bn contract to deliver ten 17-seater electric buses within six months. He said that Messrs Mutual Commitment Company Limited…

The political crisis in Rivers State may be thawing gradually as Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has invited the embattled  27 members of the State House of Assembly for discussion, by way of putting the interest of the state first.In a letter by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr.Tammy Danagogo, addressed to the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, he stated that the governor’s action was in obedience to the recent Supreme Court judgment on the political crisis in the state. The Supreme Court, had last Monday, stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria and the accountant general of the federation from releasing any funds…

Family of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, has faulted claims by former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, that the annulment of June 12, 1993, presidential election was largely the responsibility of their late father. Abacha’s son, Mohammed, in a statement, yesterday, argued that Babangida, in his autobiography titled “A Journey in Service” missed the opportunity to make history by giving a truthful and objective account of what happened in the past. According to the family, “honesty, sincerity, and integrity” are virtues not commonly associated with Babangida. The family argued that Abacha was neither the Head of State…

Schools in Beijing will introduce artificial intelligence courses to primary and secondary students to strengthen China’s goal to dominate the sector. From the coming fall semester, which starts Sept. 1, schools in China’s capital will offer at least eight hours of AI classes per academic year, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission said in a statement on its website. Schools can run them as standalone courses or integrate them with existing curriculum, such as information technology and science, it said. China has long held ambitions to be an AI innovator. But the sector was thrust into the global spotlight earlier this…

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Thursday achieved a much-needed consensus among critical oil and gas industry stakeholders and manufacturers to ramp up in-country production and utilisation of line pipes in oil and gas operations, as part of the strategy deepen local content, and conserve foreign exchange and create jobs. The Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), comprising all international oil companies, and their indigenous counterparts under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) met with the leading pipe manufacturing companies and pipe coaters as well as the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) at the…

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has unveiled its 25th-anniversary logo and the mascot for the Niger Delta Sports Festival at a ceremony in Owerri, Imo State. Host Governor, Hope Uzodinma, congratulated the NDDC on the milestone and expressed his delight at having the event held in Imo during his tenure as the state’s helmsman. “I appreciate your decision to host this important event in Imo State even as I look forward to continued collaboration for the benefit of our people,” he stated. The NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, who reeled off the accomplishments of the present NDDC board,…

A delegation of senators from opposition political parties visited suspended Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, at her home on Friday. The delegation was led by Seriake Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa state. Dickson, a member of the senate’s ethics and privileges committee that recommended Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, shared a photo of the visit on his social media pages. He said his engagement with the tax reform bills had kept him away from senate proceedings on the day of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension. “The public may recall that, for the past 3 days, I was attending the 3-day workshop on the Tax…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Nigerian women on the occasion of 2025 International Women’s Day. Extolling women as the bedrock of the nation, driving progress from homes to farms, boardrooms, and communities, President Tinubu in a personally signed congratulatory message to women restated his administration’s commitment to its Renewed Hope Agenda, to remove obstacles and ensure equitable opportunities in governance, agriculture, and all other sectors for women in the country. The President also assured Nigerian women of expansion in access to finance to further empower them. “On this International Women’s Day, I celebrate the resilience, brilliance, and indispensable contributions…

The ongoing terrorism case against leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has been reassigned to another judge. The reassignment was directed by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, John Tsoho, after months of intense pressure. The special counsel to Kanu, Aloy Ejimakor, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday. Justice Binta Nyako had been presiding over the trial of the IPOB leader. However, during the court’s hearing on 24 September 2024, Kanu requested that Nyako recuse herself from presiding over the matter, accusing the judge of bias. The statement read “Yesterday, before…