Author: Vardiafrica

The detained Binance Holdings Limited’s executive, Tigran Gambaryan, was on Tuesday, whisked into the courtroom at the Federal High Court, Abuja in a wheelchair. Gambaryan, who was dressed in a black T-shirt with blue jeans trousers, is facing a money laundering charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alongside the cryptocurrency firm. When the matter was called, Gambaryan stood up from the wheelchair and walked slowly into the dock. The EFCC lawyer, Ogechi Ujam, told the court that though the matter was scheduled for the continuation of trial, the commission’s lead counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, was not in court.…

In a monumental achievement, the self-proclaimed African Giant, Burna Boy, has made history once again, becoming the first African artist to surpass 2 billion streams in the United Kingdom The Grammy winner received the prestigious plaque backstage at his sold-out concert in Koko Camden, London during the fifth-anniversary concert of his 2019 album, African Giant. This milestone is particularly significant as it marks a full-circle moment for Burna Boy, whose international acclaim skyrocketed with the viral success of the hit single “Ye” off the awarded album. This honor follows his sold-out concert at London Stadium where he also received a…

French superstar Kylian Mbappe was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player on Tuesday, telling 80,000 fans “my dream has come true”. The striker, who had completed his medical earlier on Tuesday morning, signed a five-year contract and was handed a No. 9 shirt by club president Florentino Perez. “Wow,” Mbappe said in Spanish to roars from a packed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. “For years I’ve dreamed of playing for Real Madrid and today my dream has come true,” said the 25-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain player. “I’m a happy boy. I’m going to give my life for this club,” said Mbappe.…

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has secured over 99% of most of the counted votes, the country’s electoral agency said on Monday.Paul Kagame of Rwanda is almost certainly going to bag a fourth term as president. / Photo: AA Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has scored a crushing election victory that will extend his rule by another five years, according to partial results issued on Monday. De facto leader since the end of the 1994 genocide and president since 2000, Kagame scored 99.15% of the vote, the National Election Commission announced after 79% of ballots had been counted. It tops the 98.79%…

The Group Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has said Nigeria will be a net exporter of refined petroleum products by December this year, based on emerging indicators in the oil and gas sector. Kyari stated this on Monday at the National Assembly when economic stakeholders, including the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; and the Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, met with the Senate Committee on Finance led by Senator Sani Musa of Niger East. The emerging…

Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome Monday as he entered the Republican National Convention arena with a bandaged right ear in his first public appearance since being wounded in a weekend assassination attempt. Hours after winning the formal nomination to be the Republican presidential candidate and announcing right-wing Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate, Trump marched into Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum flanked by aides and waved at supporters on the opening day of what is expected to be a triumphalist gathering. Trump, who is due to give a formal acceptance speech on Thursday, took his seat to the sound of…

Donald Trump on Monday named right-wing Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate in the US presidential election, rewarding a one-time harsh critic who became one of his most loyal supporters in Congress. Trump, 78, announced his pick on the first day of the Republican Party convention in Milwaukee, an extravaganza turbocharged by the attempted assassination of the former president. Seen as the standard-bearer for a new kind of populism that has come to the fore under Trump, 39-year-old Vance embraces the ex-president’s isolationist, anti-immigration America First movement. One of the least experienced VP picks in modern history, the…

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, says an executive bill on the new minimum wage bill will be sent to the national assembly after President Bola Tinubu meets with organised labour on Thursday. On July 11, leaders of organised labour met with Tinubu at the presidential villa over the new minimum wage. Labour has insisted on a N250,000 minimum wage ahead of the meeting with the president. On June 3, the labour unions grounded the nation’s economy over the minimum wage dispute. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had proposed N494,000 as the new national minimum wage, citing inflation…

The Federal Government has allocated 20 trucks of rice to each 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris. “This is the first action the government is taking to alleviate the nation’s food crisis”, The minister said. Idris urged governors to ensure the most disadvantaged members of society receive the grains most effectively. He also said that the Tinubu administration was committed to ensuring that Nigerians have food. ”The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has asked the Presidential Committee on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to expedite action…

The Federal Government has secured an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), permitting Nigerian passport holders to obtain visas for travel to the UAE starting today, July 15, 2024. According to a monitored report from Channels TV, this announcement was disclosed by the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, during a briefing with State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held in Abuja on Monday, July 15, 2024. This development follows the Federal Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo’s, statement in June that the UAE would soon lift the visa ban on Nigerian travellers. …