Author: Vardiafrica

The Federal Government, through the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), says water from the Lagdo Dam in neighbouring francophone country, Cameroon, has been released into River Niger and River Benue in Nigeria’s North Central. The Agency warned Nigerians resident in floodplains to relocate immediately to safe spaces in anticipation of attendant floods that annually come with the release of water from the Lagdo Dam. NIHSA Director General, Umar Mohammed, issued this warning on Thursday. Mohammed said his Agency met with the authorities in Cameroon and agreed that water from the Lagdo Dam be released “intermittently” for the River Benue and…

 As part of the Board’s effort to boost access to the in-country marine vessel capacities, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB has unveiled the Marine Vessel Information System Software (MAVIS) to industry stakeholders, in Lagos. The application was unveiled at an engagement organized by the Board in Lagos on Wednesday. Speaking at the programme, the General Manager, Upstream Monitoring, NCDMB, Engr. Jefferson Tuatongha noted that the Board had identified gap areas in its NOGICJQS Marine Categorisation. He pointed that the Board has been working to create a system that will close the gaps and strengthen the Boards ability…

The federal government has suspended two officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) over bribery allegations involving Idris Okuneye, a popular crossdresser known as Bobrisky. The suspension of the officials was disclosed in a statement signed by Ja’afaru Ahmed, the secretary to Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), on Thursday. On Tuesday, Martins Otse, better known as VeryDarkMan, shared an audio clip of Bobrisky wherein he claimed that he bribed some EFCC officials with N15 million to drop the money laundering charge against him. In the purported recording, the crossdresser also claimed that his “godfather”, alongside Haliru…

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, says the Federal Government will toll all major roads in the country upon completion of construction and renovation. “We have the Lagos-Ibadan (Expressway), we are completing it and we are tolling it,” Umahi said on Thursday in Abuja at an Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing, part of activities to mark Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary. He listed some of the roads as Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, and Makurdi-9th Mile, among others. The former Ebonyi State governor said the tolling of federal roads “is going to bring a lot of money to the Federal Government”. Umahi…

The House of Representatives, on Thursday, passed a resolution to investigate the bribery allegations levelled against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) by social media influencer, Martins Otse also known as VeryDarkMan. The resolution of the House came after the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Patrick Umoh. In his address to his fellow lawmakers, Umoh expressed concern over the widely circulated publication by VeryDarkMan against the EFCC and the NCS. He said, “The publication alleges that…

President Bola Tinubu has received Monday Okpebhole, governor-elect of Edo state, at the State House, Abuja. Okpebholo arrived the presidential villa on Thursday in company of Abdullahi Ganduje, chair of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and some of the governors elected on the platform of the party. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo winner of the September 21 election after he secured 291,667 votes. The APC candidate defeated his closest challenger, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who got 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), came a distant third with 22,763 votes.…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented certificate of return to the winner of the Edo State Governorship election, Monday Okpebholo, of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The ceremony took place at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Thursday. INEC declared Okpebholo winner of the Saturday, September 21 election after polling 291,667 votes to beat his closest contender, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came a distant third in the race with 22,763 votes. Fourteen other candidates contested the seat but got less than the three…

The House of Representatives has referred a motion to allow other petroleum marketers to lift premium motor spirit directly from the Dangote Refinery to a joint national assembly ad hoc committee. Raised by a motion by Honourable Oboku Oforji, who argued that the coming on board of the Dangote Refinery, points Nigeria in the direction of self-sufficiency of PMS. The lawmaker described the insistence of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to be the sole lifter of PMS from Dangote Refinery as greed after it had failed to maintain the nation’s refineries. Honourable Oboku had also asked the House…

The Federal Executive Council is proposing an amendment to the National Identity Management Commission Act No. 23, 2007 to allow for foreigners living in the country to be issued the National Identification Number. The FEC, on Wednesday, also proposed the Economy Stabilisation Bill to pave the way for the taxing of foreigners living and working in Nigeria. The two proposed legislation are aimed to “expand the scope of registrable persons to include foreign individuals with the taxable presence or taxable source of income in Nigeria, and make provisions for the mandatory use of National Identification Number for transactions which are…

The Nigerian Government has distanced itself from the ongoing face-off between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery over petrol pricing, stating that it will not intervene in the dispute. According to the Presidency, both NNPCL and Dangote Refinery are free to set their own pump prices for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, as the petroleum market has been fully deregulated. This is made known on Wednesday by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, during a press briefing at the State House in Abuja. Onanuga explained that the deregulated…