Author: Vardiafrica

The Rivers State House of Assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo on Tuesday restated its resolve that the legislative seats of Martin Amaewhule and 24 others remain vacant following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023. The Assembly also said the seats must be filled through a bye-election to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Speaker of the group, Victor Oko-Jumbo, in a statement explained that the 25 Legislative seats were declared vacant on December 13, 2023, by the then legitimately recognised Speaker, Edison Ehie. He…

Justice M.O Dawodu of an Ikeja high court has issued an interim order restraining social critic, Martins Otse, aka VeryDarkMan, from further circulating or publishing any defamatory video or comments against legal expert, Femi Falana. Ruling on an ex parte application on Monday, October 14, the presiding judge ordered VeryDarkMan to delete “defamatory comments and videos” concerning Falana from all his social media pages. While giving the ruling on Monday, the judge also ruled that the Falanas can serve VDM court papers through his lawyer, Deji Adeyanju. The court also held that Falana has 14 days to file the pre-action…

Thomas Tuchel (51) is in talks with the Football Association about becoming England’s next manager, according to reports on Tuesday. It follows reports that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has been asked about his interest in the role. Tuchel led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021 but was sacked the following year. He has been among the bookmakers’ favourites for the England job since Gareth Southgate stood down after England lost to Spain in the EURO 2024 final in July. Sky Sports said the German, who left Bayern Munich at the end of last season, was in “pole position” to…

The UK government will trial the use of weight loss jabs to help unemployed people with obesity get back into work, the health secretary said Tuesday. Wes Streeting said obesity, which affects millions of Britons, was causing people to take an extra four sick days and placing a huge burden on the state-run National Health Service (NHS). “Our widening waistbands are also placing significant burden on our health service, costing the NHS £11 billion a year – even more than smoking,” he wrote in the Telegraph newspaper. At an international investment summit on Monday, the British government announced a £279 million…

The Confederation of African Football has delisted the Group D second-leg fixture of the ongoing 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifier between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Mediterranean Knights of Libya. CAF published an updated game fixture on its X handle on Tuesday, however, it does not include the Libya versus Nigeria game. The game was earlier scheduled to take place in Libya by 8 pm on Tuesday after the first leg took place in Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Friday. The Super Eagles beat the Mediterranean Knights by a lone goal in the dying minute of the…

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum (PDP-GF), has instructed feuding members of the party to revert to the status quo. The directive was given by the Chairman of the forum who is also Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, after a meeting of the governors which ended in the early hours of Tuesday. Mohammed said as a political party, the PDP was bound to have disputes among members but that those challenges can always be resolved. He said, “There is no crisis. The Governors, BoT, and the National Assembly caucus have agreed that the NWC should revert to the status…

The Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule has declared the seats of Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and three other pro-Fubara lawmakers vacant following their absence from sittings for 152 days. Making this known during plenary today, Speaker Martin Amaewhule pointed out that Ehie did not properly write to inform the house of his new office, and as such his seat has been declared vacant. Regarding Victor Oko-Jumbo and the two others, the House held three separate votes to declare their seats vacant for absenteeism from sitting for 152 days consecutively without…

The pilot who flew the Nigerian team has shed more light on the controversy in the wake of the crisis between the Nigerian authorities and Libya over the ill-treatment meted out to the Supper Eagles. The unexpected diversion of the flight to a remote airport, Al-Abraq, instead of their intended destination, Benghazi has been a source of controversy between Nigeria and Lybia. While the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) alleged that the move was ‘intentional’, the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) denied maltreating the Super Eagles. The LFF attributed the crisis to a hitch in logistics. However, in a video interview posted…

The Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu will launch the commercial operations of the Red Line rail today. In a statement on Tuesday, Sanwo-Olu said the train service will move about 500,000 Lagosians daily on the corridor. He said commercial operations will run from Agbado to Oyingbo, adding that the government will continue to ramp up the schedule. President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the red line train project on February 29. “Today marks the launch of commercial operations of the LMRT Red Line, kicking off passenger services from Agbado to Oyingbo,” he said. “We’re on a mission to keep Lagos moving, and…

The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has deplored Nigeria’s decision to withdraw from the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier while vowing to take legal action to defend its national team’s interests. Nigeria’s Super Eagles pulled out of the match, which was scheduled for Tuesday, October 15, citing safety concerns after being stranded at Al Abaq Airport for more than 13 hours due to an unexpected flight diversion on Sunday. In a statement shared by The Libya Observer, the LFF accused the Nigerian Football Federation of not cooperating in the organization of the match. The statement read, “The Libyan Football Federation condemns…