Author: Vardiafrica

As the controversy on the proposed traditional institution law rages in Sokoto State, the state’s High Court has issued an order restraining Governor Ahmed Aliyu from sacking two of the 15 District Heads his government earlier removed from their seats. The order was sought separately by Buhari Tambuwal and Abubakar Kassim, the District Heads of Tambuwal and Kebbe respectively, who are among the rulers removed by the Sokoto State Government, on the allegation of insurbodination and aiding insecurity in the state. The presiding judge, Justice Kabiru Ahmed, ordered the governor, hisAttorney General and the Sokoto Sultanate Council to revert to…

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has authorised the promotion of Second Lieutenant Princess Oluchukwu Owowo to the substantive rank of Lieutenant (Lt) in the Nigerian Army. This was disclosed by the Nigerian Defence Academy in a statement on X on Wednesday. “Speaking during the decoration ceremony which took place today 26 June, 2024 at the Nigerian Defence Academy Officer’s Mess and Golf Club, the NDA Commandant Major General JO Ochai, extolled the track record of excellence of Lt Owowoh as a cadet which accorded her the rare privilege of becoming the first female Nigerian to be…

The National Assembly comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate has passed a Bill for an Act to Amend the Appropriation Act 2023, to further extend the implementation of the Capital aspect of the Appropriation Act, 2023 from 30 June 2024 to 31 December. It also passed a Bill for an Act to Amend the Supplementary Appropriation Act, 2023 to further extend its implementation from 30 June 2024 to 31 December 2024. The bill scaled the first reading on Thursday. The leader of the senate, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele and sponsor of the executive bill, then proceeded to lead the…

The 17 Governors from the Southern part of Nigeria under the aegis of the Southern Governors’ Forum have advocated that each state be allowed to negotiate a new minimum wage they can pay with the labour unions. This was contained in a communique issued at the end of their meeting held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. “The Forum discussed the minimum wage issues demanded by labour and unanimously agreed that the minimum wage should be reflective of the cost of living and ability to pay, and each State be allowed to negotiate their minimum wage,” the communique partly read.…

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy of Nigeria, Bosun Tijani, says investigation has commenced into the alleged breach of data of Nigerians domiciled at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, the minister said the NIMC and National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) have commenced a probe into the matter. Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise, had on Thursday raised an alarm over its discovery of the sale of National Identification Numbers (NINs), Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), and other personal data of Nigerians on a website for as low as N100. The…

The meeting, it was gathered, was convened on matters bordering on the new national minimum wage, local government autonomy and NGCares disbursement to states. Some governors in attendance include Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), and Charles Soludo (Anambra) among others. The deputy governors of Borno and Delta State are also physically present This meeting of the governor’s forum is the first public meeting that the forum is holding after the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage concluded their negotiations two weeks ago. Long Walk To New Wage Talks for a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers have…

A delegation from the Federal Government and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are currently in a private meeting to address ongoing issues and prevent a strike by the union. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the meeting began at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the office of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman. The Federal Government’s team includes the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, along with other senior ministry officials. ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, who is heading the union’s delegation, informed reporters that the meeting aims to discuss…

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, says people calling for emergency rule in the state were behind the failed dynamite explosion near the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt. Fubara spoke on Wednesday when he received a delegation of the senate committee on privatisation and commercialisation at the government house in Port Harcourt, the state capital. The delegation was led by Orji Uzoh Kalu, chairman of the committee. On Tuesday, an explosion was said to have occurred near the Hotel Presidential during a protest march by some political leaders in support of the police operatives occupying the 23 Rivers LGA secretariats. The…

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has sued the Kaduna State House of Assembly over the latter’s claim that his eight-year administration allegedly siphoned ₦432bn leaving the state with huge debt liabilities. El-Rufai filed a fundamenatal rights suit at Federal High Court in Kaduna against state House of Assembly on Wednesday. The suit, filed by the ex-governor’s lawyer Abdulhakeem Mustapha, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, challenged the report of the Kaduna Assembly Committee which indicted El-Rufai for alleged corruption In the suit, El-Rufai asked the court to declare the report of the Assembly probe as null and void having not…

Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday that a bill containing contentious tax hikes would “be withdrawn”, dramatically reversing course after more than 20 people died and parliament was ransacked by protesters opposed to the legislation. But he warned that the withdrawal of the finance bill would mean a significant shortfall in funding for development programmes designed to help farmers and schoolteachers, among others, as the East African nation struggles to lower its foreign debt burden. “I concede and therefore I will not sign the 2024 finance bill and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” Ruto told a press briefing, adding: “The…