Author: Vardiafrica

Meta-owned social media platforms Facebook and Instagram experienced a widespread outage on Friday, leaving millions of users worldwide unable to access their accounts for some time. The disruption affected Facebook’s website, mobile application and Messenger service, with many users reporting that they were unexpectedly logged out of their accounts. Attempts to log back in were met with error messages stating that “an unexpected error occurred,” while visitors to Facebook’s website were shown a notice indicating that the company was working to resolve the issue. As the outage spread, users flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm whether others…

President Bola Tinubu has announced national honours for a broad cross-section of Nigerians who played significant roles in the country’s pro-democracy struggle, particularly around the June 12 political crisis. He described them as individuals who endured persecution, incarceration, exile and various forms of hardship to secure Nigeria’s democratic rule. The June 12 pro-democracy movement remains one of the defining political episodes in the country’s history, widely associated with the struggle for the validation of the 1993 presidential election and the country’s eventual return to democratic rule in 1999. In the list released by the Presidency, the awardees include lawyers, journalists,…

President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerians never to stop believing in the country even while criticising and disagreeing with him. Tinubu made this call on Friday during his nationwide broadcast to mark the 27 anniversary of Nigeria’s uninterrupted democracy. According to him, democracy fails when citizens doubt the process, describing the National Assembly, judiciary, the press, and civil society as the guardrails of Nigeria. “Criticise me, disagree with me, but never stop believing in the nation. “To our young people, Nigeria is your home and your future. Build here, work here, and eat here. Every great nation was built by those…

The United Kingddom has launched a £15 million Growth Programme aimed at attracting private investment, supporting economic reforms and creating new opportunities for businesses across Nigeria. The initiative was announced during a two-day visit to Nigeria by the UK Minister for Africa and International Development, Baroness Jenny Chapman, as part of efforts to strengthen economic cooperation between both countries. According to the British High Commission, the three-year programme is designed to unlock private-sector capital, accelerate economic transformation and support Nigeria’s transition to sustainable, reform-driven growth. A key highlight of the visit was Chapman’s meeting with the Chairman of the Presidential…

Elon Musk, chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla, has become the world’s first trillionaire after the successful initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX. According to Bloomberg on Friday, Musk’s net worth climbed to $1 trillion on Friday, from $707 billion on Wednesday. Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York, told the publication that the real test for SpaceX will be how the market digests the IPO over the next several weeks, not just one day. On Thursday, Reuters said SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer, set a price of $135 per share for its IPO, resulting in a $75 billion…

President Bola Tinubu has issued one of his strongest warnings yet to bandits, kidnappers and sponsors of terrorism, declaring that those who continue to threaten Nigeria’s peace and security will face the full force of the law. In a hard-hitting nationwide Democracy Day broadcast message on Friday aimed at criminal elements across the country, the President said the window for surrender and repentance would not remain open indefinitely. “To bandits, kidnappers, and sponsors of terror: Surrender or face the full force of the Nigerian State,” Tinubu said. “These windows of surrender will not remain open forever. No mercy will be…

The Senate has called on security agencies to intensify surveillance and apprehend bandits and terrorists openly displaying their activities on social media platforms, as lawmakers warned that criminal elements are increasingly using digital spaces to taunt the Nigerian state and glorify violence. The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Sunday Steve Karimi on the escalating wave of terrorist attacks, killings and mass abductions in parts of Kogi State and across the country. The Senate also urged the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen cashless policy enforcement to disrupt…

The Senate on Thursday approved a fresh three-month extension of the implementation period for the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act, shifting the deadline from June 30, 2026, to September 30, 2026, in a move aimed at salvaging ongoing projects and enabling ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to fully utilise funds already released by the Federal Government. The decision, which followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Munguno, marks the third extension granted to the capital component of the 2025 budget. The National Assembly had initially extended the implementation period from December 31,…

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a constitutional amendment bill to establish state police nationwide. The passage marks a significant step in Nigeria’s long-running debate over decentralising policing and tackling insecurity. The bill, titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police; and for Related Matters (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026,” was approved during consideration at the Committee of the Whole, presided over by Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas. The voting commenced after the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on…

Seriake Dickson, national leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), says the opposition party is doing its candidates a favour by giving them the opportunity to contest elective positions on its platform in the 2027 elections. Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Wednesday, Dickson dismissed suggestions that the NDC should be grateful to Peter Obi, its presidential candidate for the 2027 elections, or any other political figure for joining the party. “Don’t make it look like anyone is doing NDC a favour. No one is,” Dickson said. “Rather, the NDC and I and my colleagues are doing people…