Author: Vardiafrica

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has declared that the red chamber will not allow any lawmaker to hold it hostage, stressing that discipline, order and adherence to parliamentary procedure remain the bedrock of Nigeria’s democracy. Akpabio, in a statement issued on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Eseme Eyiboh, titled ‘The Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria’s 10th Senate,’ said the insistence of the 10th Senate on enforcing its Standing Orders was not aimed at silencing dissenting voices but at preserving institutional integrity and stability. He maintained that no democracy can thrive without order and…

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed, has declared that the gale of defections by the members of the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won’t sink the main opposition party, insisting that PDP will remain strong and reclaim power in 2027. Speaking to journalists on Saturday in Abuja at the inauguration of the media sub-committee of the National Convention Organising Committee (NCOC), Mohammed, who also serves as Chairman of the PDP National Convention Publicity and Communication Subcommittee, described the defection to APC as an act of…

US President Donald Trump has said he would impose an additional 100% tariff on imports from China from next month. In a post on social media, Trump said the US would also put export controls on critical software. In an earlier post on Friday, he hit back at Beijing’s move this week to tighten its rules for exports of rare earths, accusing China of “becoming very hostile” and trying to hold the world “captive”. He threatened to pull out of a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping. He later said he had not cancelled it, but that he did not…

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to the people of Venezuela — and US President Donald Trump, for his “decisive support” for her country’s pro-democracy movement. “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” she wrote on X. “We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom…

The Nigerian Senate has issued a two-week ultimatum to the executive arm to present a comprehensive progress report on the implementation of the 2024 budget, alongside projections for the 2025 fiscal year. The directive, which came from the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, was announced during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu’s economic team in Abuja. The meeting at the National Assembly was led by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who headed President Bola Tinubu’s economic team to engage with members of the Senate Committee on Finance. According…

Burkina Faso’s military government has refused to take in deportees from the US as Washington suspended issuing visas in the West African nation. Minister of Foreign Affairs Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré questioned if the embassy’s decision was “blackmail” after he said he had rejected an American proposal to take in migrants from third countries. Donald Trump’s administration has turned to African countries as a destination to deport migrants to as part of his crackdown on immigration. The US State Department and Department of Homeland Security have been contacted for comment. His military government seized power in a coup three years ago,…

Thousands of displaced Palestinians are streaming back toward their homes across the Gaza Strip on Friday as a landmark ceasefire between Israel and Hamas officially came into effect, ending two years of conflict. The agreement launched the first phase of a US-backed peace plan, bringing a halt to hostilities and an initial Israeli troop pullback.In a massive column, thousands began walking northwards, forming a line at least a kilometre long from the perceived safer central areas toward Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre that bore the brunt of a grueling Israeli offensive.As they walked along the recently reopened Mediterranean…

The Nobel Peace Prize was on Friday awarded to Venezuela’s opposition leader and democracy activist Maria Corina Machado, a “unifying” figure in what has become a “brutal” state, the Nobel jury said. Machado, who has lived in hiding for the past year, was honoured “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. “I am in shock,” the 58-year-old opposition leader could be heard saying in a video sent…

Peru’s Congress has voted to removePresident Dina Boluarte from office, hours after a late-night session was called to debate her impeachment. An overwhelming majority of lawmakers from across the political spectrum approved her ousting on grounds of “permanent moral incapacity”. In an address on national television following the vote, Boluarte questioned the implications it would have on the stability of Peru’s democracy. One of the world’s most unpopular leaders, with an approval rating of 2-4%, Boluarte’s tenure has been plagued by frequent protests, scandals and investigations, as well as a surge in gang violence. Anti-government protests have escalated in recent…

The Federal Government has directed all tertiary institutions in Nigeria to submit detailed reports on unutilised intervention funds received from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) within the next 30 days. Speaking at a meeting with heads of tertiary institutions in Abuja, Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, expressed concern over the persistent issue of unused allocations, describing it as a major challenge for the ministry. He noted that funds earmarked for critical infrastructure development have remained dormant due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, delaying much-needed progress in higher education. To address this, Alausa announced a series of new measures, including: The…