Author: Vardiafrica

The Senate has approved the death sentence as a penalty for drug traffickers in the country, as it passes through the third reading, the 2024 NDLEA Act (Amendment) Bill. The proposal was adopted on Thursday when the Senate dissolved into a committee of the whole for a clause-by-clause consideration of a report of the Chairman of the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights & Legal Matters and Drugs & Narcotics National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Senator Tahir Munguno. In a review of the penalty provisions of the amendment bill towards strengthening the operations of the agency,…

The political tension in Rivers State was heightened as Governor Siminalayi Fubara who has been at loggerheads with the State House of Assembly paid an unscheduled visit to the Assembly Quarters on Thursday. The quarters serve as the official residence for the 32 legislators of the state and also house the temporary chambers of the Martin Amaewhule-led state Assembly since the demolition of the main assembly building. Accompanied by a convoy of uniformed and civilian aides, Governor Fubara briefly toured the premises before departing to inspect the Emohua-Kalabari road, slated for inauguration as part of his upcoming first-anniversary celebrations next…

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has directed financial institutions, to ensure compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s order on compulsory registration of Point of Sales operators within the country. In a statement titled ‘ENFORCEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA DIRECTIVE ON REGISTRATION BEFORE ONBOARDING’ sent to Channels Television on Thursday, CAC said it had instructed banks to ensure registration on or before July 7, 2024. According to the CAC, in a letter to all affected banks, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAC, Hussaini Magaji (SAN), said the instruction was in line with Section 863(1) of CAMA…

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution to investigate the procurement process in the award of the contract of the  ₦15trn Lagos-Calabar coastal road. The motion was moved by Honourable Austin Achado on Thursday as a matter of urgent national importance. The House said the 2007 Procurement Cct was violated and that certain approvals by the National Assembly as required by the law were not given In light of the above, the House has asked the minister of works, finance, attorney general, and minister of justice, to avail the National Assembly copies of the documents for award of the…

Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withdraw the circular directing financial institutions to commence implementation of the 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy, describing it as “ambiguous”. The development was in response to a motion on the urgent need to halt and modify the implementation of the cybersecurity levy, moved by honourable Kingsley Chinda. According to the Green House, the CBN is to withdraw the initial circular, and “issue a more understandable one”. Honourable Chinda had drawn the attention of the House to multiple interpretations of the CBN directive against the…

A former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika has pleaded not guilty to the alleged corrupt practices involving about N2.7 billion brought against him by the Federal Government. Sirika was arraigned before Justice Sylvanus Oriji at the Federal High Court in Abuja along with his daughter, Fatima, his son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma, and a firm – Al Buraq Global Investment Limited. The daughter and son-in-law also pleaded not guilty to the six-count charges when read to them. Following their denial of the fraud charges, their respective lawyers moved applications for their bail which was granted by the judge Justice Oriji admitted the…

The Senate has kick started moves to review salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of judicial office holders in Nigeria in a bid to curb bribery and corruption and ensure independence of the judiciary. The executive bill seeking to prescribe the salaries of the judicial office holders both at the federal and state levels scaled second reading on Thursday and is expected to nip in the bud, the prolonged stagnation in remuneration to reflect the current socio-economic realities. Even though the bill was unanimously embraced, some lawmakers canvassed that in the face of the current economic hardship, salaries/ remuneration of Nigerians…

The Kaduna State government has disclosed plans to merge a total of 359 schools over incessant activities of bandits which had resulted in cases of abduction and kidnapping in the state. Speaking at a stakeholders forum and the training of the Schools’ Protection Squad on Wednesday, Governor Uba Sani represented by his Chief of Staff, Sani Kila, said the schools in vulnerable communities would be merged with those in safe locations, as part of measures to safeguard the schools and children from being attacked by bandits. According to him, the launched school protection squad under the Federal Government’s Safe School…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to arraign former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, before Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maitama on Thursday Sirika, who served under the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari, would be arraigned on a six-count amended charge. To be arraigned alongside Sirika are his daughter, Fatima; Jalal Hamma and Al-Duraq Investment Ltd, for alleged abuse of office. According to the charge sheet sighted by Channels Television, Sirika allegedly used his position as the Minister of Aviation to fraudulently award contracts to his daughter, son in-law…

The Senate is fast-tracking the process of proper documentation and protection of human rights of domestic workers and their employers in the country. Lawmakers argued that proper documentation and protection of domestic workers will serve several purposes, including keeping full records of the identities of domestic workers, respecting their fundamental human rights and provisions for the safety of the employers. Leading the debate, the sponsor of the bill, Sen. Hussaini Babangida-Uba, representing Jigawa North-West, noted that most domestic workers in the country were either unregistered and not engaged in compliance with labour laws. He further argued that bill would safeguard…