Author: Vardiafrica

Donald Trump said he wants to grant green cards to foreign graduates from US colleges, in an apparent softening of his typically hard-line view on immigration, a key election issue. The Republican candidate made the remarks in a podcast published Thursday, days after President Joe Biden announced a citizenship pathway for immigrants married to US nationals, counterbalancing his recent crackdown on illegal border crossings. “What I want to do and what I will do is, you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in…

Justice Abdullahi Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano, has set aside the reinstatement of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of the prestigious Kano Emirate. Though the judge, on Thursday, refused the application to declare the amended Kano Emirate law null and void, he overturned all the actions taken by Governor Abba Yusuf after the controversial law was amended by the Kano State House of Assembly on May 23, 2024 Justice Liman faulted the governor’s assent to the bill and the presentation of an appointment letter to Emir Sanusi on May 24, 2024 despite an order of court directing all parties…

To intensify the fight against internet crime and enhance the security of business transactions, unicorn payments technology company, Flutterwave, says it is partnering the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to establish and a state-of-the-art Cybercrime Research Centre. The fintech company with fortunes worth over $1bn headquartered in San Francisco and footprints in Nigeria and other African countries said the centre would also provide a “sustainable lifeline to youths across the country”. To this effect, the Silicon Valley-based company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the anti-graft agency on June 14, 2024 in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja. At the…

In a major step towards boosting Nigeria’s oil and gas production, the NNPC-TotalEnergies JV has officially announced a 550 million USD Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ubeta Field Development Project. The milestone is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Executive Order on Oil & Gas Reforms aimed largely at improving the investment climate and positioning Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the Oil & Gas sector in Africa. The Ubeta field discovered in 1964, North-West of Port Harcourt in the eastern part of the Niger Delta will, once on stream, produce about 350MMScf/day of gas and…

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun has directed the continuation of the police barricade on local government secretariats in Rivers State to prevent a breakdown of law and order. IGP Egbetokun gave the directive while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja on the sideline of a Conference with Commissioners of Police and other Senior Officers. He said the police will continue to occupy the secretariats until a court of competent jurisdiction delivers judgment on the local government crisis in Rivers State. The IGP who also spoke on the controversy over the recruitment of constables and the allegations by the…

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday received his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa as both leaders held a bilateral talks following the latter’s swearing-in ceremony. “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu receives South African President@CyrilRamaphosa for Diplomatic, Economic, and Bilateral talks after a successful Presidential Inauguration Ceremony,” presidential aide Olusegun Dada said in a post on his X handle on Thursday. ‘We Have Lots in Common’ The meeting was hosted by the Nigerian president in Johannesburg, South Africa. In a statement after the meeting, Tinubu’s spokesman Ajuri Ngelale quoted his principal as saying, “I really enjoyed your speech at the ceremony. I was delighted…

The detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was at the Federal High Court Abuja for his trial on Wednesday. Kanu, who arrived in court in the presence of his lawyers, also spoke on the killings in the South-East.He insisted he was all for peace, and had no hand in the murder of the some soldiers in Abia State a few weeks ago. “I condemn in its entirety all of the killings, because IPOB was founded on a non-violent principle, and we maintain that stand. And some of these soldiers, we were told are also our…

The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA) from Delaware, USA, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on human space flight missions. In a landmark event which held today at the nation’s capital, Abuja, the MOU was signed between the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and SERA, highlighting a collaborative effort to advance human space flight capabilities. This partnership which amongst other things aims to foster the development of critical technologies and infrastructure required for human missions beyond Earth, will also see a Nigerian land in space. The signing ceremony…

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has sworn in 23 new caretaker chairmen for the 23 local government areas of the state. The swearing-in was done on Wednesday at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital amid tight security. Channels Television reports that the exercise was carried out at the Council Chambers with the first batch of 11 CTC chairmen taking their oath of office. It comes a day after he forwarded the list to the state House of Assembly led by factional Speaker, Victor Jumbo The lawmakers had invited the nominees for screening as early as 8 am…

South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for a second full term as president in Pretoria on Wednesday, after his weakened African National Congress (ANC) struck a government coalition deal. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo led Ramaphosa’s oath of office ceremony before lawmakers, foreign dignitaries, religious and traditional leaders and cheering supporters at the Union Buildings, the seat of government. “In the presence of everyone assembled here, and in full realisation of the high calling I assume as President… I Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa swear that I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa,” Ramaphosa said. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to…