Author: Vardiafrica

President Bola Tinubu has sworn in eight Federal Permanent Secretaries. The eight permanent secretaries took the oath of office just before the commencement of the first Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja. The brief swearing-in ceremony for the Permanent Secretaries , which was conducted in one batch, was anchored by the Director Media office of President, Biodun Oladunjoye. They include ⁠Onwusoro Ihemelandu (Abia State), Ndiomu Philip (Bayelsa State), ⁠Anuma Nlia (Ebonyi State),Ogbodo Nnam,Enugu State and Kalba Usman (Gombe State). Others are ⁠Usman Aminu (Kebbi State), Oyekunle Nwakuso (Rivers State)Nadungu Gagare (Kaduna State). The President also sworn in…

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has tightened surveillance measures at entry points in the country owing to a fresh outbreak of Ebola disease in Uganda. Last week, the Ugandan Ministry of Health confirmed the outbreak of the disease with one death and has now followed up with forty-four contacts. Owing to the development, the NCDC in an advisory said while there is no outbreak of the disease in Nigeria, the agency is working to prevent such. “There are no cases of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. However, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in collaboration…

Afrobeats singer Tems has scored her second golden gramophone at the Grammys with a win in the Best African Music Performance category. At the 67th Recording Academy Awards, the singer bested a mainly Afrobeats nominated category with only Chris Brown as the non-Afrobeats singer with her love track Love Me Jeje. She wards off stiff opposition from compatriots Burna Boy, Asake, and Wizkid for their joint track “MMS,” as well as Yemi Alade and the Davido and Lojay-assisted ‘Sensational’ by Chris Brown. The song, which beat four others by star afrobeats performers, has notched up some 20 million views on YouTube.…

The Federal Government says plans are ongoing to increase electricity tariffs “over the next few months”. It, however, said that the planned increase needed to be balanced by subsidies for less-affluent electricity users. According to Bloomberg, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, gave this hint at the Africa Heads of State Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Nigeria presented a $32 billion plan to expand electricity connections by 2030. According to the presidential aide, Nigeria is trying to resolve the transition to a cost-efficient but cost-reflective tariff to attract private investors. She said: “One of the key…

Some Arab nations have rejected US president Donald Trump’s call to relocate Gazans to neighboring countries. A key group of Arab nations said they “firmly” reject any efforts to resettle or evict Palestinians from Gaza, after US President Donald Trump said this week he wanted to “clean out” the enclave and move its population to neighboring countries. The foreign ministers of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt issued a wide-ranging statement Saturday, February 1 saying they hoped to work with Trump on a two-state solution in the Middle East. But they pushed back on Trump’s suggestion…

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has commenced the enforcement of the mandatory minimum Third-Party Motor Vehicle Insurance. This is in line with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun. The enforcement began on February 1, 2025. In a statement on Sunday, Josephine Adeh, Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Command in Abuja, stated that all vehicle owners in the FCT must now possess a valid Third-Party Insurance policy before driving on public roads. She advised those without any form of insurance to obtain one immediately to avoid penalties. According to the police, Third-Party Insurance is…

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has unveiled Nigeria’s Service-Wise GPT, a groundbreaking advancement in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for governance, setting a new benchmark for public service transformation. She introduced the initiative at the prestigious Global Government Summit 2025, held in Singapore. Mrs Eno Olotu, Director of Information and Public Relations in the HCSF’s office, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday In her presentation, titled Model Behaviour: How to Govern with AI, Empowering Governance with AI – Nigeria’s National AI Journey and Service-Wise GPT Insight, Mrs Walson-Jack highlighted Nigeria’s pioneering…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on Thursday launched five Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) mini-plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi State. The five LNG mini-plants are PRIME LNG, NGML/Gasnexus LNG, BUA LNG, Highland LNG, and LNG Arete. These plants will take their feedstock, which is natural gas, from natural gas pipes that are already traveling up to the Ajaokuta location. The main source pipeline for the mini-plants are the AKK pipeline, which is the Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna gas pipeline being built by the Federal Government. These plants would serve gas to parts of the country that are currently without any form of gas…

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have paid a condolence visit to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde over the death of his elder brother, Sunday Makinde. Sunday died in the early hours of Friday during a brief illness at the age of 65. The Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Gov. Bala Mohammed, led his colleagues on the condolence visit to Makinde in his private residence at Agodi GRA, Ibadan. The Bauchi State Governor described Makinde’s brother as a man who lived a fulfilled life and expressed the forum’s heartfelt sympathy to his Oyo colleague. He assured Makinde of the…

Meta has agreed to pay President Donald Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot, the company said Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal first reported the settlement of the suit brought against Meta and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, in what was seen as a victory for Trump. According to people familiar with the agreement, the Journal said, $22 million of the payment will go towards funding Trump’s future presidential library, with the remainder covering legal fees and payments to other plaintiffs in the…