Author: Vardiafrica

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued fresh guidelines to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) on the deposit of foreign currency notes with the apex bank This directive was contained in a circular issued by the Director of Currency Operators, Mohammed Solaja and posted on the bank’s website on Friday. CBN disclosed that each bank would be allowed a maximum deposit of $10 million threshold for USD 100 notes and USD 50 notes daily, saying such foreign currency deposits can only be made at the CBN branches in Abuja and Lagos. “In order to deepen the foreign exchange market, boost…

Nigeria’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, has been cleared to compete in the Paris Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed appeals against her exoneration from a doping offence. The decision was announced on Friday, putting to rest months of uncertainty surrounding the athlete’s eligibility. Amusan, 27, faced charges in July 2023 for missing three anti-doping tests within a 12-month period. However, she was initially cleared by the Disciplinary Tribunal of World Athletics, the sport’s governing body. World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) subsequently appealed this decision to CAS. In its statement, CAS…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of eight new Federal Permanent Secretaries to fill in existing and impending vacancies of some states and geo-political zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation. The new Federal Permanent Secretaries appointed after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation are: (1) Dr. Emanso Umobong Okop – Akwa-Ibom (2) Obi Emeka Vitalis – Anambra (3) Mahmood Fatima Sugra Tabi’a – Bauchi (4) Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi – Jigawa (5) Olusanya Olubunmi – Ondo (6) Dr. Keshinro Maryam Ismaila –…

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the comments credited to governors that states should determine their minimum wage in their domains “This notion is not only dictatorial but also undermines the very essence as well as the model adopted for creating a national minimum wage in Nigeria,” the NLC said in a Friday statement by its Head of Information and Public Affairs Benson Upah. Labour unions, the government, and the private sector have been locked in negotiations over a new minimum wage for months. The tripartite committee on the new minimum wage had proposed N62,000 as a new minimum…

John King, CNN’s chief national correspondent, says the Democratic party is looking to replace President Joe Biden as its presumptive nominee ahead of its national convention in August. Biden sparred with former US President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, on Friday, in a debate hosted by CNN. The incumbent’s speech was at times slurred, throaty, incoherent, he stuttered on occasion, and his ripostes came across as weak. At one point, as the candidates debated on border closure and immigration, a gloating Trump said: “I really don’t understand what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think…

Godswill Akpabio says the Senate will consider a request for a new presidential jet if there is a necessity for that but dismissed claims that the lawmakers are set to approve the purchase of the same at the moment Akpabio, the senate president, said this during plenary in Abuja on Thursday amid claims in some quarters that the Senate is set to approve the purchase of a new jet for President Bola Tinubu. “Irrespective of anticipatory blackmail, because those people know very well that something like that might come in the future. And if it’s a necessity, the Senate will…

President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima on Thursday met with governors of the 36 states of the Federation and ministers to deliberate on a new minimum wage for workers in the country, as well as other economic matters. The President and the governors met at the 141st meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), which took place in the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The Vice President chaired the meeting with state governors, deputy governors and ministers before the arrival of the President. Thursday’s meeting comes about two days after the Federal…

The immediate past governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, has asked the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Abuja, Justice John Tsoho, to transfer his trial in alleged money laundering to Lokoja. Bello said that he preferred to be arraigned in Lokoja, being the place the alleged money laundering offence was committed. At a resumed hearing on Thursday, Bello represented by his counsel, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), informed Justice Emeka Nwite that a letter requesting for the transfer of the trial had already been delivered to the Chief Judge for his administrative decision. Specifically, Adedipe said the request for Lokoja…

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…