Author: Vardiafrica

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said he wanted to “make things right” with Donald Trump and to work under the US president’s “strong leadership” to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine. In his first public comments since Trump halted US military aid to Ukraine, Zelensky said his public bust-up with Trump last week was “regrettable” and pledged to sign a key minerals deal with Washington. He also called for a “truce” in the sea and sky as a first step to ending the three-year war. A dramatic collapse in the Kyiv-Washington wartime alliance has played out in the open since…

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced bold strides toward launching a unified regional currency, the Eco, by 2027, marking a significant milestone in the bloc’s push for greater economic integration. The announcement was made through a statement issued on Monday by Mohammed Manga, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Finance, as financial leaders from across the region convened in Abuja for the 11th ECOWAS Convergence Council meeting. The gathering, which brought together Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors, focused on refining strategies to expedite the Eco currency’s launch—aimed at driving…

Chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Tony Elumelu, has reiterated his dedication to supporting Gabon’s economic development following a high-level meeting with the country’s President, Brice Oligui Nguema. During an official visit to the Presidential Palace in Libreville, Gabon, Elumelu engaged in discussions with President Nguema on strategies to advance infrastructure development and promote entrepreneurship in the country. Both leaders acknowledged the vital role of infrastructure investments in driving economic growth and job creation. Elumelu, a strong proponent of Africapitalism, emphasised the need for private sector involvement in fostering sustainable…

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Shamsedeen Babatunde Ogunjimi as the new Accountant General of the Federation after a rigorous selection process. His appointment, approved on Tuesday, takes effect from Friday, the same day the incumbent, Oluwatoyin Madehin, will retire. Ogunjimi, 57, was first named as Madehin’s successor last December. A selection committee later chose him through a competitive, rigorous, and merit-based process involving Directors of accounts in the Federal Civil Service. The committee conducted the process through three stages: a written assessment, an ICT proficiency test, and oral interviews. The selection process underscored President Tinubu’s commitment to promoting transparency, excellence,…

Google has unveiled Gemini Code Assist, a free version of their AI-coding assistant, for individuals. According to a statement shared with Technext, the development assistant powered by Gemini 2.0 is now available to Nigerian developers. Going forward, Nigerian developers can use natural language in a variety of languages in Gemini Code Assist to generate, explain and improve code. The AI coding assistant now also supports all programming languages in the public domain and is optimised for coding. “For example, a freelance website developer could quickly get code with a prompt like, “Build me a simple HTML form with fields for name, email, and message, and then add a…

President Donald Trump is ordering a pause on shipments of US military aid to Ukraine after his heated Oval Office argument with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, a White House official told CNN Monday. The halt in aid, which came after Trump held a series of meetings with top national security officials at the White House, could have dire effect on Ukraine’s war-fighting abilities, officials and analysts said. It will remain in place until Trump determines Zelensky has made a commitment to seeking peace talks, one official said, essentially forcing Ukraine to a negotiating table by threatening further losses on the battlefield. “The…

The Federal Government will today, March 4, 2025, unveil a new payment platform to replace REMITA, which has been used for revenue collection. This was revealed in a memo from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, dated February 28, 2025, and obtained by The PUNCH on Monday. The new platform, named Treasury Management & Revenue Assurance System, is designed to streamline and manage federal revenue collections and payments across ministries, departments, and agencies, including those benefiting from donor funds, trust funds, social security funds, and special funds. “The system would go live on March 4, 2025, as…

Amid the leadership tussle that has assailed the Lagos State House of Assembly in the last seven weeks, a lawmaker, who represents Agege Constituency I, Mudashiru Obasa, has been re-elected as the Speaker of the 40-member Assembly. Obasa was re-elected on Monday after the resignation of Mojisola Meranda who stepped down as the Speaker of the Hous .https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fchannelsforum%2Fvideos%2F3512148472424482%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0#amp=1 His re-election followed the nomination by a former Majority Leader of the House, Noheem Adams, who represents Eti-Osa Constituency 1. Obasa subsequently took the oath of office as the new Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly seven weeks after his…

Mojisola Meranda has been reelected as the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly. Meranda, who just resigned on Monday afternoon as Speaker of the House, accepted the role of the deputy speaker pledging to serve the state in good faith. “This is a notice of resignation as Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly,” Meranda earlier read her resignation letter out at the plenary Monday afternoon. The House is expected to decide on the next Speaker and Mudashiru Obasa has been nomination Following the resignation, the House quickly reconstituted its leadership with new nominations. David Setonji was reinstated…

Mojisola Meranda, speaker of the Lagos state house of assembly, has resigned from her position just 49 days after assuming office. Meranda resigned after a meeting with Mudashiru Obasa, the embattled former speaker, Cornelius Ojelabi, chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos; and Lawal Pedro, the attorney-general of Lagos state. Announcing her decision, Meranda said she was stepping down to uphold the integrity of the legislature. She added that she remains committed to serving her constituency, Apapa 1, and described her brief tenure as historic, having being the first female speaker of the Lagos assembly. “I will never stray…