Author: Vardiafrica

The messaging platform, WhatsApp, has announced plans to urgently apply for a stay of execution and appeal the ruling of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT) that upheld a $220 million penalty imposed by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). WhatsApp disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos, expressing strong disagreement with the tribunal’s decision In addition to the penalty, the tribunal ordered WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta Platforms Incorporated, to pay an extra $35,000 to the FCCPC, intended to cover the commission’s investigative costs…

Nigeria and Morocco have agreed to unveil a joint venture to manage a long-planned $25 billion pipeline which will ship gas to Europe, a Moroccan minister has said. Morocco’s minister of energy transition and sustainable development, Leila Benali, told Morocco’s parliament that a floating gas storage terminal would also be installed at Nador on the Mediterranean for the mega project. Benali said, the project has made considerable progress” and entered the execution stage. She added that, feasibility and engineering studies have also been completed, according to Arabian Gulf Business Insight (AGBI). In her comments, published on Facebook and in Morocco’s press…

MTN Group would like to inform stakeholders that it has experienced a cybersecurity incident that resulted in unauthorised access to personal information of some MTN customers in certain markets. Our core network, billing systems and financial services infrastructure remain secure and fully operational. An unknown third-party has claimed to have accessed data linked to parts of our systems. At this stage we do not have any information to suggest that customers’ accounts and wallets have been directly compromised. The Group immediately activated its cybersecurity response processes including informing the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Hawks in South Africa.…

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, will lead Nigeria’s delegation to Vatican City to attend the burial of Pope Francis on Saturday In a statement on Friday, presidential adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that the five-member delegation was constituted by President Bola Tinubu. Other members of the delegation are the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama. Pope Francis, the revered head of the Roman Catholic Church,…

The Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal has confirmed a $220 million penalty imposed on Meta Platforms Inc. by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). In a statement issued Friday by FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, the tribunal also ordered Meta to pay an additional $35,000 to cover the cost of the commission’s investigation. The original fine was levied on July 19, 2024, following a joint 38-month investigation conducted by the FCCPC and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). The inquiry focused on how Meta and its subsidiaries—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—handled user data and privacy. Meta has…

The Sole Administrator of Rivers, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, has requested more time from the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Rivers to properly brief the committee on the developments in the state. He requested on Friday at a meeting with the committee in Abuja after failing to appear before the committee on Thursday, April 17 and 24. Ibas, who expressed regret for his inability to attend earlier engagements explains that the absence was not out of disregard, but rather due to the weighty and urgent demands of stabilising governance in Rivers. “I have always held the National…

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri on Thursday announced a ban on the issuance of waivers for the importation of threaded pipes for use in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.He handed the directive to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) at the commissioning of Monarch Alloys Limited’s concrete weight coating plant at Ikorodu, Lagos State. The plant has an annual external capacity coating capacity of two million square meters and an internal square meters coating capacity of one million square meters. The facility supports onshore and offshore pipeline requirements where increased line…

A delegation from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Wednesday visited MT Valves West Africa Free Zone at Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, to assess the firm’s operations and plans to invest in a 15,000 tons per year valves manufacturing facility. The company is a subsidiary of MT Group, a global manufacturer of industrial valves, with presence across Africa, Middle East and Asia, manufacturing 60,000 tons of valves per year from its plant at Abu Dhabi, United Emirates and cutting-edge research and development center and manufacturing base at Shanghai, China, the global headquarters. The Board’s delegation was led…

The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, was among state governors attending the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday. Ibas made his debut appearance at the NEC meeting after his appointment as Sole Administrator for Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu following the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara in March 2025. Vice President Kashim Shettima presided over the meeting which had in attendance many governors and some deputy governors from across the 36 states of the federation. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State who defected to the All Progressives Congress…

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has announced that a forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) will soon commence. Edun, who was speaking at the Nigerian Investor Forum, which is holding on the sidelines of the IMF/World bank spring meetings in Washington DC, explained that the recent rejigging of the management of the NNPCL is part of the cleansing the Federal Government has taken to audit the company Addressing a group of investors drawn from renowned global financial institutions, including J.P. Morgan, the Minister outlined critical reforms the Federal Government…